The Two Friends and the Stranger with the Coat

 In a faraway land lived two friends. They had been friends since their childhood and wanted to be so all the time.

Another man came to the village and saw the friendship of the two men. The man who came to the village wanted to know whether the friendship of the two men was strong enough. So he did a very simple thing.

* * * *

The very next day the two men saw a stranger walk across the field. 

The stranger shouted and drew a lot of attention to himself. That way both the friends looked up from their work. 

The friends admired the coat that the stranger wore.

* * * *

In the evening when the two friends met each other they talked about it.

"The stranger was wearing such a lovely red coat" Said the first friend.

The other friend was confused. "I wanted to talk to you about it, but it was not a red coat, it was a blue coat!"

The first friend shook his head hurriedly and was confused himself. "How could you say that? it was a red coat!"

"You did not see it properly!"

And so the two friends now were angry with each other and soon they started fighting. It reached a stage that they both insulted each other and called each other names in the middle of the road.

* * * *

It was at this time that the two friends saw the stranger on the road again.

The stranger looked at the two friends fighting each other and he laughed. 

He pulled out the coat from his bag and showed it to the two friends. "You fools! You fools! You fought without the facts."

The two friends were flabbergasted. The coat in the strangers hand was half red and half blue. 

"You both fought because neither of you were right. You just saw things from your own point of view and refuse to understand anything from the other man's side. You do not deserve to be friends."

Folk stories from Africa

Eros and Psyche

Psyche and her two elder sisters were princesses in a kingdom. Psyche was so beautiful that people from all over the kingdom and even beyond it, were thrilled by her beauty.

Aphrodite was the Greek Goddess of love and beauty. When she heard of Psyche’s beauty, Aphrodite became jealous that people gave more attention to Psyche than to her. It hurt the Goddess more because people did not come to Aphrodite’s temples and instead went to see Psyche, who was rumoured to be even more beautiful than the Goddess.

Aphrodite, irritated, decided to solve the problem by summoning her son Eros.

Eros was the God of love and desire. He threw arrows at the hearts of humans to make them fall in love.

"Make the beautiful Psyche fall in love with the most despicable and ugly creature on earth." Aphrodite instructed her son.

Eros was a very obedient son. He flew to earth to fulfill his mother’s wishes.

But once, Eros looked at Psyche, he was stunned. Accidentally, he pricked himself with his own arrow.

Following that, Eros fell deeply in love with Psyche. Eros decided that he had to save the beautiful princess from the wrath of his mother, and he left her alone.

But Psyche’s problems were far from over.

Men came to admire her beauty, but they did not want to marry her. So though she was beautiful beyond compare, she could not get married.

The unhappy state of affairs continued even as Psyche’s older sisters got married.

That was when Psyche’s parents were worried that they had done something to offend the Gods, and so the king approached the Oracle of Delphi for advice.

The Oracle solemnly looked at the king and sighed. "Your daughter will marry a beast that even the Gods will fear."

As the Oracle continued, the royal couple became terrified. "Dress her in black clothes and let her walk up the tallest rock mountain in your kingdom. Nothing else can be done for her."

Sadly, the couple told Psyche the Oracle’s prediction for her.

Unhappily, Psyche did as she was asked to do.

There on the mountain, Psyche was terrified and waiting for a monster to come.

A wind carried the scared Psyche off the mountain, far away from the kingdom.

Psyche was terrified, but no one could help her, and she did not know where the wind was taking her. She thought that all this was the monster’s doing and did not know what to expect as she was terrified out of her wits.

However, the wind gently deposited Psyche in a place far away from her own kingdom. There was a lovely meadow and a magnificent castle in front of Psyche.

Psyche was guided by gentle, invisible voices all around her. "This is your home. You will be well taken care of here. You have nothing to worry."

Psyche found the courage to follow the voices and enter the castle.

Psyche's every need was met in the castle, just as the voices had predicted. There was treasure all over the castle; rich food was served at all times, and there was gentle music playing around just to soothe her.

At night, she had a gentle and caring lover in her bed.

But Psyche’s lover took care to stay invisible to her and never let her see him.

Over the next months, Psyche was sure that all these things had been done by her husband, and he was her unseen lover at night.

She learnt to enjoy herself more and lived like a Goddess in the castle.

However, Psyche slowly became homesick. She realized that though she was living happily in her new home, her parents and sister would be mourning for her. They would still believe that she was dead after being carried off by a monster from the top of the rock mountain.

That night, she told her lover that she wished to meet her family and just talk to them.

Her lover agreed to it but warned her not to get influenced by other people’s ideas and notions.

Psyche happily nodded, not quite understanding her lover’s advice.

A few days later, Psyche’s sisters were brought to the meadow the same way that Psyche was brought here.

The sisters cried in happiness on seeing each other.

Psyche's two sisters, on the other hand, saw her sister's opulence and luxury and were curious about the owner of the castle and Psyche's lover who had allowed her to live like this.

Psyche could not answer their questions truthfully.

Psyche’s sisters grew jealous that their sister lived like a Goddess.

The three sisters lived in the castle for a few days, and then the other two sisters decided to go back home.

However, while leaving, the jealous sisters had a word of advice for Psyche. "Your husband seems to be a monster, Psyche. Even the Oracle of Delphi said that you would be taken by a beast. I think your husband looks hideous, and that is the reason that he keeps himself hidden."

Psyche stared uncomprehendingly at her sisters, unwilling to believe that her gentle lover was a monster.

Her eldest sister shook her head in mock sadness. "There is no other reason why he would keep himself hidden from someone like you."

Her second sister solemnly nodded her head. "Take care, Psyche."

That very night, Psyche took a dagger and a lantern to bed with her.

When her lover came to bed, Psyche lit the lantern to properly see his face.

Psyche tried to look at the face of her lover from the light of the lantern when he came to bed at night.

Eros was so handsome that it was impossible not to look away from him after looking at him once. Psyche was startled at seeing how handsome Eros was, and her hands shook. A drop of oil from the lantern fell on Eros’s face, and he woke up from his sleep.

Eros looked at Psyche and realized that she had seen his face.

Eros ran from there, and Psyche tried following him.

"Love cannot exist without trust." Eros told her as he disappeared from there. The castle also disappeared as Psyche found herself back in her own kingdom.

Psyche realized that Eros, the God of Love, had been her husband, and she had not trusted him after believing the words of her sisters. She was unhappy and heartbroken and she roamed around the world in search of her lover.

On her way, she visited both her sisters. When her sisters learnt the truth about Psyche’s husband, they were so jealous that they decided to offer themselves in place of Psyche. They also climbed the rock mountain in the hope of finding Eros. But the two sisters fell to their deaths because the wind did not carry them as it did Psyche.

Back to Psyche: she roamed far and wide in search of Eros but found him nowhere.

Finally having no choice, Psyche approached Aphrodite to help her.

The Goddess of Love did not make things easy for Psyche. She was still jealous and wanted Psyche to prove that she was the appropriate wife for her son.

First, Aphrodite led Psyche to a huge mountain of food grains. The mountain was just that—a huge mountain with a mixture of every single variety of food grain. "Separate all the grains, and I shall decide whether you would be a good wife for Eros."

Unable to bear the despair of his wife, Eros ordered some ants to help Psyche.

The ants separated the grains easily and in no time at all.

Aphrodite was shocked to see that the work was done, but she could not believe that Psyche had done this without any help. But Aphrodite could not prove it either.

Unwilling to give in, Aphrodite set the next task for the girl—to get the golden fleece from a violent herd of sheep, who were grazing near a river.

The God of the River advised Psyche to wait until midday—that was when the sheep were very sleepy and would not attack her.

After this, Psyche was easily able to collect the golden fleece from the sheep.

Aphrodite again suspected that Psyche had outside help, but this time too, she could not prove it.

The third time, the Goddess of Love asked Psyche to get water from the River Styx. The river Styx was believed to be the boundary between the earth and the underworld.

Though Psyche could see the river, she could not get to the water because the surrounding terrain was steep and slippery.

The eagle of Zeus, the Greek God of Thunder, who was the King of all Gods, helped Psyche in her third task. The eagle flew into the river and brought water for Psyche.

Aphrodite was stunned on seeing the water and suspected that Psyche had outside help, but this time too, she could not prove it.

So, for the fourth time, Aphrodite asked Psyche to get a portion of Persephone’s beauty from the underworld.

Hades was the Greek God of the Dead and the Underworld. Persephone was the Goddess of vegetation, and she was kidnapped by Hades and subsequently married him. Since then, Persephone has been the Goddess of the Underworld.

Psyche is in despair because she felt that she could not complete the final task. So she was about to end her life by jumping off a high tower when a voice guided her. The voice instructed her on the location of the opening to the Underworld and warned Psyche to maintain silence throughout her journey.

Psyche followed the instructions (which were from Eros) and found Persephone, who gladly gave her a closed box that contained a portion of Persephone’s beauty.

Psyche got the box out of the Underworld.

But unfortunately, on reaching earth, curiosity overcame Psyche, and she opened the box.

She fell into a deep sleep on opening the box from the Goddess of Death.

Eros, who saw this, realized that Psyche loved him. By this time, the scars from the oil on his face had also healed, and Eros had more or less forgotten all about them.

Eros first woke Psyche up from her sleep and then approached Zeus and the other Gods to help him.

Psyche was offered ambrosia, the nectar of the Gods, so that she could be with Eros for all eternity.

In the end, Aphrodite was also happy with this.

Psyche lived in the Heavens with Eros and was forgotten by the world of men, and men again went to the temples of the Goddess of Love and Beauty.

The Cobra and the Crows

There lived a husband and a wife crow in a dense forest. The dense forest was on the outskirts of a prosperous kingdom.

The birds had built a nest in the branches of the tree and lived there.

Unfortunately, the crows did not know that a cobra also lived in the base of the same tree. The cobra was silent and did not draw any attention to itself, and it merely observed the crow couple.



Once the wife crow laid eggs in the nest and the couple were very happy that they were going to become parents.

The couple went out to hunt for food and that was when disaster struck.

When the couple returned to the nest, they found that their eggs were broken and eaten. The miserable couple looked around and found that the trail led to the base of the tree and realized that there lived a cobra there.

After that, every time the wife crow laid eggs, the cobra would eat them when the couple went to hunt.



Not knowing what to do, the crow couple approached the wise jackal. “You need to help me!” The wife crow told the jackal unhappily. “The two of us cannot fight the cobra. We are not strong enough to kill the cobra. The cobra knows this. It waits for us when we are away and then eats our eggs.”

“I think we should abandon the tree.” The husband crow voiced from the other side.

The jackal was silent and then shook his head. “Moving to another location will not solve your problem. It will merely give you a new set of troubles in the new area.”

“What do we do?” The wife crow wailed. “We cannot let the cobra do this to us all the time.”

The jackal studied the crow couple and then a second later grinned.

A day later, the kingdom near the dense forest was in a big frenzy. Something unthinkable had happened. A crow had stolen jewelry from the palace!

The guards ran out following the flying bird and the crow had a precious necklace in its beak.

The crow for some strange reason seemed to be slow, almost as if it were letting the guards follow it.

After a long run, the guards had followed the crow to a dense tree.

The guards sighed in relief as the crow dropped the necklace at the base of the tree.

Unfortunately, one of the guards spotted a huge cobra hole where the necklace had fallen into.

While taking the necklace out, the cobra was disturbed and hissed angrily.

The guards saw this and immediately killed the cobra.

The next day, the jackal smiled at the crow couple. “You do not need strength to defeat a stronger enemy.”

From the Panchatantra

The Wise Carpenter

 The kingdom of Snalong was ruled by King Genchog. King Genchog’s father was Gendong. 

When Gendong had been alive, he had also been a very good king of his times. 

In the same kingdom lived a painter and a carpenter. They were both masters in their respective fields. But the carpenter and the painter hated each other.

One day the painter went to the court of King Genchog with a very special letter.

The letter was from King Genchog!

‘Dear son,

I am in the heavens and I am very happy there. 

However, I wish to build a temple for the Gods here. There are no good carpenters in Heaven. Please make arrangements to send a carpenter to heaven. 

The painter through whom I have sent this letter can make the necessary arrangements for my wishes to be carried out.’

King Genchog did not doubt the letter. His father would definitely want to build temples for the Gods and there was no reason for him to doubt the contents of the letter.

That very day, the king sent for the carpenter.

The carpenter was very surprised when he looked at the letter. When he saw the mention of the painter, he grew even more suspicious. But he did not voice any of his suspicions. He studied the King. “How am I supposed to get to heaven, your majesty?”

King Genchog called for the painter to court and that confirmed the carpenter’s suspicions. 

“How is the carpenter supposed to go to Heaven?”

The painter nodded at the king, smiling slyly at the carpenter “The carpenter and his tools are to be laid on the ground. Then they are all burnt. Using the smoke of the fire, the carpenter can ride up to the heavens with his tools.”

The carpenter stared blankly at the painter as fear clutched his heart. With great difficulty he caught himself and nodded slowly at the king. “Your majesty, I… work from my home… I hope that all this is done there.”

The innocent king nodded much to the glee of the painter.

However the carpenter was not yet done talking. “I have some work here too, your majesty. Kindly give me about a weeks’ time to finish my work on earth, before I go to heaven.”

The king agreed to this request too. 

The date for burning the carpenter and his tools to be sent to the heavens was fixed to the next week.

In his fields, the carpenter worked hard for the next seven days in a secret mission.

On the seventh day, the carpenter and his tools were burnt on the pyre.

The painter went back home smirking happily thinking that he had got rid of his enemy.

Three months later, King Genchog was in court. 

He was surprised to see the carpenter walk in hale, hearty, happy with divine looking wonderful garments.

The king welcomed the carpenter happily. “How was the trip to the heavens, carpenter?”

The place is amazing, your majesty.” The carpenter nodded at the king. “I could find all the materials and build a magnificent temple for the Gods. Your father is very happy with my efforts.” The carpenter handed over another letter to the king. “He asked me to give me this letter to you.”

‘Dear son,

The carpenter that you have sent has done a magnificent job. 

Now I need a good painter to finish the temple. Kindly make the necessary arrangements to send a painter.’

The painter heard this and he was stunned. He was in awe when he saw the attire of the carpenter. He genuinely believed that attire was made in heavens. The foolish painter did not know that the carpenter had used his one week well and had built a tunnel leading away from the place of burning to an underground chamber. The carpenter had stored the underground chamber with enough rations and provisions to last him for the three months. In those three months, the carpenter had the attire prepared in the underground chamber.

The painter knew none of this. He genuinely believed that he was being called to the heavens.

As the painter was not as quick thinking as the carpenter, he met his end that day.

Folk stories from Tibet

The Three Fishes

 In a pond there lived three fishes. One of the fishes believed in fate. He believed that whatever had to happen would happen and that nothing could change it. The second fish was wise. He thought long and hard about any problem and then acted on it. The third fish trusted in his ready wit and intelligence to get him out of any trouble.

Though the three fishes believed in different things, they were best of friends.

Once as the wise fish was swimming near the surface of the water it heard two fishermen talking.

'Look at this! Look at how many fishes there are in the pond.'

The other fisherman nodded his head.

'We will come tomorrow and lay our nets in this pond.'

The fishermen walked off talking.

The wise fish hurried to its friends. 'Do you know what happened today?'

He told the other two fishes everything that he had overheard.

'So tomorrow, the fishermen are going to come.'

The wise fish was agitated. 'We have to do something.'

The fish who believed in fate shook his fate. 'Whatever will happen, will happen, my friend. There is no point in worrying about it.'

The wise fish called out. 'The fishermen are going to come tomorrow. You just cannot ignore it. They will catch all of us, if we stay here.'

The fish who believed in fate waved its fin. 'We cannot change what is going to happen. I will accept whatever is in store for me.' The fish who believed in fate, left, with those words.

The other two fishes stared at each other.

The wise fish looked at its other friend feeling sad.

The fish who believed in its own intelligence said to the wise fish. 'We cannot change his mind.' He turned to look at the other fish. 'What do you plan to do?'

The wise fish was silent for a long time.

'There is a passage from this pond to the nearby pond. I am going to the next lake.' The wise fish looked at the last fish. 'What are you going to do?'

The intelligent fish smiled. 'I am going to stay here.'

The wise fish was aghast. ‘But..’

The intelligent fish shook his head. 'Don't worry, I have a plan.'

The wise fish looked at its two friends. It knew that it could not change their mind.

That very night, it went to the nearby pond.

The next day, the fishermen came.

The wise fish escaped.

The fish who believed in fate was caught in the net and was killed immediately.

The intelligent fish was also caught in the net.

Immediately it thrashed around and pretended to be dead.

The fishermen saw it.

'This fish is already dead! We cannot take it.' The first fisherman looked disgusted as it was studying the limp fish.

'Throw it back inside the pond.' The other fisherman shrugged.

Picking the fish, the fishermen threw it back in the river.

The intelligent fish grinned as he swam down and waited there till the fishermen were gone.

-From the Panchatantra

The Dragonflies and the Monkeys

Once in a huge forest, in Luzon, there was a strong tree. The tree had families of monkeys living in it.

The forest was very hot at that time of the year.

A dragonfly had been flying in the forest all day and she was tired. She came to the branch of the strong tree and realized that she needed to rest for some time.

She landed on the branch of the tree and that was when she saw a huge monkey smirking down at her.

“What do you think you are doing?” The monkey demanded angrily from her.

The dragonfly caught her breath and looked earnestly at the monkey. “Please sir, let me rest here. I am tired and the forest is too hot.”

“I will not let a weak creature like you rest on my tree!” The monkey told the dragonfly angrily and the monkey threw a twig on the little dragonfly.

The dragonfly was faster and she dodged the twig. She was shaken, but not hurt.

She flew to her brother, who was the king of the dragonflies and told him all that had happened.

The king of the dragonflies was very angry after hearing his sisters. He sent three of his messengers to the monkeys and asked them to make amends for treating dragonflies with cruelty.

Naturally, the monkey scoffed at the messengers of the dragonflies. The dragonflies were too tiny and the monkeys felt that there was nothing that the dragonflies could do to them.

The king of the dragonflies heard the story of the messengers and decided to attack the monkeys. So with no weapons and relying only on their flying skills the dragonflies flew to the strong tree of the forest.

The monkeys were ready with their clubs to swat down the dragonflies.

That was when the king of the dragonflies had an idea.

“Land on the heads of the monkeys.” The king told his soldiers.

That is what the dragonflies did.

They landed on the head of every monkey. The monkeys were waving their clubs haphazardly, trying to bring it down on the dragonflies.

But the dragonflies flew off because they were very quick.

The club instead landed on the head of the other monkeys.

One by one, the monkeys hit each other with their own clubs and fell off the tree and fell down.

That was how the little dragonflies won against the big monkeys.

Folk Tales from Philippines

The Old Woman and the Physician

 There lived an old woman in a city. Added to her old age, she was beginning to lose her eye-sight as well.

She was worried that she would lose her vision completely. So she visited a physician in her city to cure her.

The physician was new and young. But he looked at the old nearly blind woman and had an idea. He readily agreed to cure her blindness.

The old woman was taken aback with his eagerness and smelt a trap. “I shall pay you ten silver coins only when you completely cure me.” She told the physician carefully. “I will not pay you anything, if your treatment does not work.”

The physician did not even hesitate. “I agree to the conditions.” He shrugged to himself. “Your treatment will start tomorrow. Since you cannot see properly, I would advise you not to come here daily. I will come to your house and treat your eyes.”

The old lady could not find any flaw in the physician’s words and agreed.

So daily the physician came to the old lady’s house.

Though he treated her properly, the physician was greedy.

Realizing that the old woman could not see properly, the physician stole some precious trinkets from the old woman’s house, daily.

A month later, the old woman’s vision had improved considerably and the physician had stolen many precious items from her house.

Finally the treatment was over and the physician demanded his fees.

The old woman refused to pay him.

Angry, the physician took the lady to court.

“I treated her properly.” The physician told the court the next day. “She promised to pay me ten silver coins. Now, she completely refuses to pay me.”

The judge was puzzled as he looked at the physician and the old woman.

“Did you have trouble with your vision, grandma?” The judge asked the old woman.

“Yes.”

“Did you go to the physician?”

“Yes.”

“Did you promise to pay him on successfully completing your treatment?”

“Yes.”

“Can you see better now?”

“I cannot say that for certainty, my judge.”

“She lies!” The physician yelled. “She can see much better than she could when she came to consult me first.”

The judge studied the physician and then looked at the old woman.

“Why do you say that you cannot see better, grandma?” The judge asked finally.

The old lady smiled. “Over the years when I was younger and could see better, I had gathered many treasures. I adorned my house with them, judge.” The old woman looked at the physician with a cold smile. “I do not see any of those treasures around my house. If I do not see them, that means I have not gained my vision, isn’t it?”

Needless to say, the physician was forced to return all the old woman’s jewelry. He was not paid for his treatment, because he was imprisoned for his thievery.

(The story is of Greek Origin and was included in many books including the Fable of Aesop’s)

-Aesop’s Fables.