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Once upon a time the people in the Japanese city of Kyoto were terribly afraid; they shook with fear. A fierce witch had taken posession of the tower over the city gate which opened and closed whenever she felt like it. she was capable of locking the gate in the face of the travellers bring food and merchandise, or throwing it wide open to savage tribes from the north. Many brave Samurai, the strongest and best fighters, had faced up to the witch, but the minute she eyes on them, she hurled herself out of the tower, hair flying in the wind, screeching furiously and brandishing a fiery seord.

Attacking them one by one, she left them lying dead in the dust. No, there was no hope for the city of Kyoto, and many people began to think of leaving it.

The folk were murmuring, ” All our Samurai are dead. If only Watanabi were still here, the bravest of them all ! But all that remains is his sword, and ther’s no one able to use it.”

However the sword was not all that remained of Valiant Watanbi, there was also his son, a young boy. On hearing what the citizens were saying , he wondered, ” My father has gone, he died fighting, but we still have his sword. I shall take it and face the witch. Win or die, I shall be a credit to my father’s memory.”

So the boy bravely armed himself and went off to the tower. The witch saw him arrive and she grinned, but did not make a move. She would n’t even bother using her fiery sword on the youngster, she would wither him with a glance. So she she paid little heed to Watanbhi’s son as he quietly crept into the tower, climb the stairs without making the slighest sound and entered the witche’s room. When the witch heard the door close, she turned round to burn the boy with the powerful rays emanating from her eyes but the splendour of Watanbi’s sword blinded her.

” This is Watanbi’s sword ! ” shouted the young boy, and before the witch could defend herself , he struck a blow and ended her life. Thus wa Kyoto saved. And by a mere boy.

Once upon a time three sons were engaged in merchantile business under the supervision of their father. they were very rich. Each son was proficient in his own department.

If one was good in sales, the other was competent in purchases and similarly the third one in finance.

Unluckily , oneday the father got bed ridden and the sons decided to divide the business undr the fallacy that each of them wee experts in their own way and can handle their individual business solely.

The father was glum and grumpy with their decision but wa helpless and unfortunately the seperation took place.

As a result three of them became each others competitors. With the passage of time, they started havi8ng huge losses in their respective businesses. They tried all possible ways to succeed but the situation became worse.

Then they came to their father for a piece of advice. The father said, ” When you all were doing the business jointly, the business ran successfuly. But it was not any one of you responsible for the success of the business rather traits of all three of you put together made the business successful.The sons realized their mistake and got reunited.

Once in a big garden situated by the side of a lake lived a wicked old snake.As he was old he was unable to hunt.

One day as he wa resting on the banks of the lake, a frog asked him about his ill health. The snake said as he was old and have been under a curse of a sage who cursed him as he had bitten the sage’s son. The curse is that he should take frogs on his back for fun rides and survive.

The frog went and told the king of frogs . The king of frogs went to the old snake and hopped on his back. The snake carried him to and fro , thus pleasing him.The next day too the snake did the same.

The king of frogs gave the permission to the old snake to consume one frog each day so that he can improve on his movements for the joy ride.

In due course , the snake ate all the frogs and the king of frogs as well.

The Dough family was an unusal one. the head of the family, Dough, as his name suggested, was a ball of dough. His wife was a lab of butter. They had two children, Ant and cotton.

One morning, Mother Butter asked her son, ant to go and get some resin from the mepche tree, as resin made good fuel.

” Stay away from fresh resin,” she cautioned.” You could get stuck. Get a small dried piece.”

” She thinks I’m still a baby,” thought ant as he climbed jauntily up the tree. ” She doesn’t know how strong I’ve become.” He saw a big blob of resin emerging from a crack and rushed forward to grab it. and of course he got stuck.

When he didn’t return, Father dough decided to go in search of him.

Don’t go too near the edge of the road,” said his wife. ” You could easily slip and roll down the side.”

” What does she know?” thought dough as he rolled out of the house. ” If I follow her advice and walk down the middle of the road, I could get crused by the carts going by, I’m safer at the edge.”

He zoomed to the edge of the road, lost his balance and went rolling down the side of the steep hill.

When her husband did not return. Mrs. dough asked her daughter, cotton , to go out and look for him.

” Take care not to walk in open spaces, my child,” warned Mother Dough as Cotton got ready to leave.” You could get blown away by the wind.”

Cotton thought her mother was being too fussy and went dancing down the street. then disregarding her mother’s advice she decided to take a short cut across a meadow. she didn’t even get halfway. A gust of wind picked her up and carried her away into the mountains.

Mother butter waited for her family to return. the day got hotter and hotter and Mother butter began to melt and became smaller and smaller till finally there was nothing left of her except a puddle of liquid.

So ends the story of the dough family which perished because nobody wanted to be told what to do.

A generous King once ruled in the land of Andhra. Every day two beggars used to come to him for alms and he always gave them food and money.

On receiving the alms one of them, the older one, used to say: ” God provides.” The other beggar , the younger of the two , would say: ” Our King provides.”

One day the King gave them more money than usual, whereupon the older man cried out lustily: ” God provides.” This annoyed the king who thought: ” It is I who am feeding him and he keeps saying: ” God provides, God provides”. It is time he learnt who his real benefactor is.”

The next day after he had given them alms he asked the beggars to go by a little-used road instead of their usual one.

” I have provided for one of you, ” he said. ” God will provide for the other.”

He made sure that the one who always praised him went first. He ordered that a purse of gold be kept on the road in the beggar’s path so tht he would find it.

But as the beggar walked down the road he wondered why the King had sent him tht way.

” Perhaps he wants me to enjoy the privacy of this road.” he thought.” It is indeed a beautiful road and so broad. One can walk with eyes closed.” And he closed his eyes. As a result he missed seeing the purse. It was spotted and picked up by the other beggar who was coming behind him.

The next day the King asked the beggars whether they had found anything on the road he had sent them by and he looked meaningfully at the younger man. but the beggar shook his head.

” It was a beautiful road, ” he said. ” But I did not find anything on it.”

” But I did,” said the other man. ” I found a purse of gold. God provides.”

Now the King became even more determined to show the older beggar that he was their true benefactor. So while the beggars were going away he called the younger one back and gave him a pumpkin.

The pumpkin had been hollowed out and filled with silver coins. but the beggar didi not know that. On the way he sold it to a shopkeeper for a few coins.

The next day the King asked the beggars if anything eventful had happened the previous day, looking meaningfully at the younger beggar.

” Nothing,” said the beggar. ” Except that I earned a few more coins than usual by selling the pumpkin you had so generously given to me.”

The King tried hard not to show his dismay.

” And you? ” he said to the other beggar. ” Did you too earn more than usual?”

” I certainly did,” said the beggar. ” As I was passing by a shopkeeper called me and gave me a pumpkin. when I went home and cut it I found it was full of silver. As I always says, God provides.”

There was a prince who was besotted with his own beauty. If any traveller cme to the palace he would ask him: ” Have you ever seen anyone as handsome as me?” No one ever had. One day an obsequious traveller said to him: ” I don’t think there could be anyone in the whole world as good-looking as you. I don’t think even a God could be as handsome.” This made the prince very happy and he went around telling everyone that he was more handsome than any God.

One day he had two vistors who identified themselves as Gods.

” We have come to see if you are as handsome as you claim,” they explained.

” Aren’t I ?” he asked.

” We visited you earlier in the day when you were asleep,” said one of the Gods. ” You were more handsome then.”

“How could my looks decline within a few hours?” said the prince. He turned to his servants.

” Did I look better in the morning?” he enquired.

” You looked the same,” said his servants.

” We are Gods,” said one of the vistors. ” We can see what your servants cannot. Their vision is imperfect and we’ll prove it to you. Bring a bowl of water.”

A bowl of water was brought. The God asked the servants to study it closely and then leave the room. when they were gone, he removed half a spoonful of water from the bowl . then the servants were called back in.

” Is there any change in the bowl of water?” asked the God.

” None,” said the servants.

” They cannot see the water has diminished,” said the God, ” just as they cannot see that your beauty has deteriorated.”

The prince was shaken. He thought: ” My beauty is diminishing by the day. It is short lived. Why am I besotted by something so fleeting? I should concern myself with that which is eternal.”

He never again looked into a mirror and in course of time renounced his throne and became a monk.

A weaver was busy making a blanket outside his hut. A wandering ascetic with long, matted hair came and stood to watch.

“What can I do for you,?’ asked the weaver.

” Nothing, nothing,” said the ascetic. ” I want to see how a blanket is made. Your skill fascinates me.”

Flattered, the weaver turned back to his work. When he was not looking, the ascetic pulled out several tufts of his long hair and mixed them with the wool the weaver was using.

When the weaver had finished making the blanket, he took it to the market to sell.

As he waited patiently for a customer, he suddenly became aware that somebody was standing behind him. He turned and saw that it was the ascetic.

“I want to see how a blanket is sold,” he explained.

Presently an elderly man who was passing by, stopped to look at the blanket and after haggling interminably over the price agreed to buy it.

” Now please give me my share,” said the ascetic to the weaver.

” What share?” asked the weaver, startled.

“What share? ! What share ?!” mimicked the ascetic. ” Have you not used some of my hair to make the blanket?”

He snatched the blanket from the man who had bought it and showed the hairs that had been woven into it.

“This is my hair and this one and this one!” he pointed out triumphantly.

The weaver was so angry he felt like pulling out the rest of the ascetic’s hair, but he controlled himself, and not wishing to make a scene in front of the customer shoved a few rupees in the ascetic’s hand and sent him away.

The wife of the headman of a village died soon after giving birth to a baby boy. The headman was inconsolabe but was persuaded by his family and friends to marry again so that the child would have someone to look after him.

Fortunately, his second wife turned out to be a large-hearted and sensible woman who gave the child all the love and care he would have received from his own mother. In course of the years she presented the headman with two more sons, but her affection for the oldest never dimished. She treated all three boys alike and the two younger ones never realised they had a stepbrother.

When the headman passed away, the widow entrusted the responsibilities of the household and the fields to the eldest son and he managed them so well that the family prospered. This made the neighbours envious. One day, one of them told the widow’s sons the truth about their eldest brother and advised them to drive him away from the house lest he should deprive them of their share of their father’s property. The boys were shocked at the revelation, and frightened by the rprospect of losing their share of the property, decided to murder him. When they told their mother about what they palnned to do, she said to them: “Don’t bloody your hands, I will get rid of him for you.”

That night when everybody was asleep, she suddenly jumped out of bed and started shouting ” Snake ! Snake!”

“Where? Where didi you see it, mother?” asked the eldest son, getting up from his mat.

” Alas,” said the widow. ” I saw it disappearing into your stomach.”

The young man turned pale. From that day on, he lost all appetite for food and would lie on his mat the whole day long. Soon he became so weak that he could not even sit up on his mat.

The neighbours rejoiced and took advantage of the situation. They built a wall across the widow’s courtyard and claimed a part of the house as their own. In the fields they shifted their boundaries to enclose large portions of the widow’s lands. The younger sons could not deal with the situation and one day they said to their mother: ” If our elder brother was not bed-ridden, such terrible things would not have happened to us.”

The widow kept quiet, but in the dead of the night she again started shouting “Snake! Sanke!

Every one woke up.

“Where …Whee idi you see it mother?” asked the eldest son, weakly.

” Son ,I saw it coming out of your stomach,” replied the woman.” It disappeared into the darkeness.”

From that day on the condition of the eldest son started improving. Soon he was able to walk into the courtyard where he saw the new wall. ” Who has built this!” he thundered. The neighbours came running and meekly pulled down the wall. The following week he went to the family fields and seeing the new boundaries houted : ” Who has done this !”

The neighbours trembled in fear and quickly vacated the land they had grabbed.

The widow and her three sons lived in peace and harmony ever after.

A villager and his family were on their way to the city. At noon on the second day of their journey they came upon a huge banyan tree and decided to rest under it for a while.

The villager did not want to stay idle so he decided to make a rope. He sent his eldest son to a town nearby to buy jute; he sent his second son to tuy vegetables, and the third to buy provisions. He assigned duties to his daughters-in-law too. One was sent to fetch water; another, firewodd. The third one was asked to knead the dough.Whe he had got all the materials he needed, the villager sat under the tree to make the rope. Now there was a giant living on the tree. He had been observing the villager and his family ever since they ahd camped under his tree. He wondered why the man was making a rope. Finally unable to contain his curiosity, he got down and asked him.

The villager concealed his fear and kept on working. Looking defiantly at the giant he said he was making the rope to tie him .

The giant was shaken. though big he was , he was timid by heart. He fell at the villager’s feet and begged for mercy.

” I’ll make you rich,” he said, and digging up a chest of treasure, gave it to him.

The villager was overjoyed. He cut-short his journey and returned to his village, a rich man.

When his neighbour heard how he had come by his wealth he immediately gathered his own family and set out for the giant’s abode.

There, he began issuing instructions to his sons and daughters-in-law. But his sons refused to leave the shade of the tree to run errands and his daughter-in-law just ignore him.

He had to do everything himself. Eventually he got all the materials he needd and he sat down under the tree to make the rope.

He was thrilled when the fiant descended from the tree.

” Why are you making that rope?” asked the giant.

” Why else but to tie you,” said the man.

The giant smiled.

” So you’re afraid,” said the man. ” Better give me a chest of treasure or I won’t spare you.”

” If your own family is not afraid of you why should I be ?” laughed the giant, climbing back onth his tree. ” Tie your sons and daughter-in-law before thinking of tying anybody else.”

A merchant was taking his morning stroll by the seaside when he saw a man squatting on the beach and filling a cup with sand. As the merchant watched, the man emptied the contents on a large pile of sand beside him and began filling the cup again.The merchant went up to him and asked him what what he was doing.

“I am Fate,” said the man. ” I measuring out the food each man is to receive today.”

“Can you really do that?” asked the merchant. ” I challenge you to withhold my midday meal today!”

” As you wish,” replied fate.

The merchant bought a fish and took it home and gave it to his wife.

Then he went on to his place of work.

In the afternoon he came home and sat down to eat.

His wife placed the cooked fish before him.

” Fate said he would withhold my midday meal,” thought the man. ” But now who can stop me from eating this delicious fish?” And he burst out laughing.

His wife thought he was laughing at the way the fish had been prepared and she began to scold him. The merchant got angry. He got up and stormed out of the house.

It was only when he cooled down that he relised the significance of what had happened:

Fate had succeeded in withholding his share of food for that afternoon.