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On the shores of an ocean, lived a pair of Tittibha birds.

In due course when the female tittibha bird was expecting babies , she said to her husband, ” My dear, please find me a suitable and quiet place where I can lay my eggs.”

“My dear woman! This is the right place!” said her husband.

” Oh no!” she replied. ” When the tide is high , this place is completely flooded.”

” What ! Do you think I’m so powerless that the Ocean would dare do such a thing?” her husband shouted.

” My dear,” said the wife with a smile. ” There is a great difference between you and the Ocean. You should recognize your weakness. You may pay for being so proud.”

But the male tittibha was adamant and so the poor female had to lay her eggs on the shore.

The Ocean was amused to hear their conversation and carried off the eggs at the first opportunity.

” Husband” cried the female Tittibha, ” don’t worry, I’ll get them back.”

Then the male Tittibha called an assembly of birds.

They all went together to their King, Garuda ( In Hindu mythology, he is referred to as the Lord of the Birds whom Lord Vishnu uses to ride on) and the Tittibha said to him, ” Master ! We were living peacefully at home, not harming anyone and yet the ocean has tormented me and my wife and made us terribly unhappy by taking away our eggs.”

Then, Garuda told Lord Vishny, the preserver of the world, all that had happened… Lord vishnu immediately ordered the Ocean to return the eggs to the Tittibha.

The frightened Ocean quietly obeyed Lord Vishnu’s order and returned the eggs.

Thus, a determined little bird proved to be a match for the mighty Ocean.

There was a time when elephants could fly. They had wings- four big wings. In fact they were God’s favourite vehicles; he used to ride on an elephant when he was busy creating the world. But once humans started living on earth and God’s work was over, their importance decreased.

Not only tht, the elephants had developed very irritating habits. Sometimes they would crow like cocks. And sometimes, tired of flying in the sky, they woudl go and sit on the rooftops of houses. The houses would collapse. The whole world knew how heavy the elphants were, but these creatures had no ideda about the trouble they were causing.

It was time for God to take action. He invited the big beasts for a fantastic feast. The elephants stuffed themselves with so much food that once they had eaten their fill, they rolled over on their stomachs and went to sleep.

That was the moment God had been lookinng for. He quietly cut off the elphants wings. And according to tribal lore, he gave away two of their wings to the peacock, which is how the bird got its beautiful tail.

The God stuck the other two wings on the banana plant, which is how it got its big leaves. When the elephants woke up groggy from sleep, they discovered their great loss. And they got wild – so wild that they scampered off into the forests.

The tiger had a good day at hunting and had eaten to his heart’s content. Now he wanted some water to drink and made his way to a pool.

A young pig was drinking at the pool and when he saw the tiger approaching , froze in terror. But the tiger ignored him and bent to drink, only to recoil in disgust – the wwater smelt foul.

He decided to go to another pool. The pig , puzzled by his behaviour, jumped to the conclusion that the tiger was going away without drinking , out of fear of him.

Suddenly feeling as strong as an elephant, he ran after the tiger and challenged him to a fight.

” Not today,” said the tiger, looking over his shoulder. ” Meet me here tomorrow and we’ll fight.”

The pig took his reluctance to fight as further evidence of his fear of him and his spirits soared.

He rushed home and began to boast that soon he would be king of the jungle.

When his family and friends heard he had challendged the tiger, they were appalled.

They guessed why the tiger had turned away from the pool, and took the pig to task for his foolish action.

The pig soon realised that he had made a terrible mistake and was seized by a cold panic. Seeing his distress, his aged grandfather hastily worked out a plan to save him.

” Keep your appointment with the tiger,” he advised his grandson,” “otherwise he will come here looking for you and slaughter us all. But before going to meet him, roll in the dirt and mud so that you stink to high heaven.”

Came the day of the big fight. The pig rolled in the mud and in elephant’s dung and in all other rubbish he could find and then went to meet the tiger.

The tiger was waiting impatiently for him, but when the pig drew near, stepped back in disgust.

” What have you done to yourself?” he snarled. ” You…you stink ! Yeech !”

He had come with the thought of feasting on delicious pig meat, but now he felt nauseated and his appetite vanished.

” I’ve come to fight,” squeaked the pig, stepping forward.

” Get away from me !” growled the tiger.” “Go”

The pig turned and ran.

The pig and his family and friends realised that being dirty was good for them, so they began to wallow in mud everyday before going out.

They continue to do so to this day !

In the days when the world was young, an enterprising owl ran a dyeing shop which birds visited in large numbers.

On day a crow , his feathers stylishly curled at the ends hopped in and said he wanted to be dyed in a colour that would set him apart from all other birds.

Crows were white in those days. The owl led his customer into the dyeing room and put him into a pot of indigo. When he was taken out, the ends of his feathers had straightened out and he was glossy balck. The crow was furious. The owl reminded him that he had asked to be dyed in a unique colour but the cow refused to listen and gave the owl a vicious peck. Alarmed, the owl abandoned his business and fled. From then on he began to come out only at night to avoid the wrath of his dissatisfied customer

Byun-soon, Dael-soon and Hae-soon were three sisters. One day a tiger came to their house, and on seeing him the girls ran out of the back door and climbed a tree.

When the tiger began to climb the tree, the sisters prayed to the gods to save them. Their prayers wee answered. An iron chain descended from the skies and the sisters climbed up to safety.

They lived happily in the land of the gods, and in time, Byun-soon was transformed into a star, Dael-soon into the moon and Hae-soon into the sun.

When Hae-soon set out across the skies on her first day out as the sun, people on earth came out of their homes to stare at her. Hae-soon was an extremely shy girl and she turned bright with embarrassment when she saw the people looking up to her. The more they stared, the brighter she became, till finally she became so bright that the people were blinded by her radiance and could no longer look up. This suited the shy Hae-soon and she continued to glow brightly from then on.

There was a youth who was always keen on helping others. One day he was strolling near a lonely hut. He saw an elderly man in front of the hut. To the youth, he seemed like a learned scholar. He asked the latter, ” Master, I want to be good to all. What can I do?” The master went into his humble hut. He came out with an elegant casket, which was latched. He handed it over to the youth and said,” Take this home carefully and open it. Then you’ll know what to do. But never open it on the way.” The youth thanked the master and carried the casket away. But, on the way he wondered what could be there inside. He could not suppress his curiosity. He opened it without paying heed to the words of the master. As sson as it was opened the youth himself, was turned into a strange tall plant. Nay, now he had become a coconut tree with leaves and nuts at an unreachable height. Of course, today we all are familiar with this most useful tree !.

A frog was once so enamoured of the cuckoo’s sweet voice that he begged the bird to teach him to sing.

” My only ambition in life is to be able to sing like you,” croaked the frog, hope bulging in his eyes.

The cuckoo was not immune to flattery and he agreed to take on the frog as his pupil. Day after day, he sat on a bough overhanging the pond and instructed the frog:

” Saa, ree, gaa…” the cuckoo would trill melodiously.

” Saa, ree, gaa…..,” would croak the frog, trying hard to soften his harsh voice.

A week passed and then two. The cuckoo perserved, though all his pupil emitted by way of song was a series of croaks in different notes.

Soon, the cuckoo began hearing his pupil in his dreams. He would wake up shivering and a feeble croak would escape his beak. One day , the cuckoo’s night mare turned into reality. in the midst of a lesson, his once-levely voice emerged as a guttural croak. He stopped and as his stunned pupil watched, tried again. All that came out was a ear-splitting ” Caaw…caaaww…!”

Which is how crows came into being.

Lord Vishnu set off to marry Laxmi. He invited all the gods and goddesses to accompany him to the bride’s house.
When the marriage party was about to leave, everyone began to say, ‘ Don’t take Ganeshji with us. Look how ugly he is to look at with that drum of a tummy, that elephan’ts trunk, those feet as big as mortars, those ears as large a winnowing baskets, that fat forehead. What is the point of taking him with us? He will frighten the women! It is better we leave him behind, to guard the house while we are away.’ And everyone left for the bride’s house.
Now Narad, always a mischief-maker, came to Ganesh and said, ‘ They’ve left you behind! Not taking you with them just because they thought you ar ugly- now that is a great insult !”.
At this Ganesh called his trusty steed and helper, the mouse and ordered him to lay waste the world. The mouse laid waste the world, because of which the wheel of Vishnu’s charriot bent and sank into the ground.
The wedding guests tried to push the wheel out of the ground, but it would not budge. At last they called a cartwright, a maker and mender of carts. The cartwright touched the wheel with his hand and said, ‘ Jai Ganesh!’ and the chariot wheel came free of the ground.
Everyone began to ask him,’ Why did you take Ganesh’s name?’
The cartwright replied, ‘ Without Ganesh no task ever gets done properly.’
At this the gods and doddesses began to think,’ But we left Ganesh behind! Maybe that was foolish of us!’
So they went back and fetched Ganesh to go with them in the wedding party. First Ganesh married Riddhi and Siddhi, and then Vishu married Laxmi.

Clytie was a sea nymph who wore beautiful green gowns woven of seaweed. Her long, golden hair floated about her at the bottom of the sea. One day a mermaid sang her a song about a golden light above the water. Clytie wanted to see it!
She swam to the surface and climbed on to the shore. She saw the golden light described in the song….. It was the sun! She stood happily gazing at it all day. When she at last turned to the water, she saw her reflection. Her golden hair had become yellow petals; her green gown had become leaves. Her tiny feet had become roots. She had become a sunflower, a small image of the sun she loved.
To this day, the sunflowers turn on their stems all through the day so that they can gaze upon the sun as it travels the sky.

It was the battle of kurukshetra. The white conch shells were about to sound, the elephants to march forward, and the attack of the archers to commence. The moment was brief and terrible. Banners were flying, and the charioteers preparing for the advance. Suddenly a little lapwing, who had built her nest in the turf of a hillock in the midst of the battlefield, drew the attention of the Lord Krishna by her cries of anxiety and distress for her young.
” Poor little mother !” he said tenderly, ” let this be thy protection ! ” And, lifting, a great elephant – bell that had fallen near, he placed it over the lapwing’s nest. And so, through the eighteen days of raging battle that followed, a lapwing and her nestlings were kept in safety in their nest, by the mercy of the lord, even in the midst of the raging field of kurukshetra.