Thee Mo

onkeey's Heaart
O
Once upon a time there liived a monkkey
happpily on a Jaamun tree onn the bank off a
riveer. He saw one
o day a croocodile comiing
outt the river annd asked him m,"Oh, what
maakes you loiteer here?" Thhe Crocodile
saidd,"I live in thhis river, andd I move aboout
in search
s of foood." The monkey said,
"W
Welcome! Theere's a lot off Jamuns herre
whhich I'll pluckk for you." TheT monkey
threew Jamuns downd the treee and the
croocodile ate thhem to his heeart's
conntent.Then he h said, "Thaank you, dearr
Moonkey, for thhe sweet Jam muns.Will you
treaat me in the same way iff I come agaiin?"
Thee Monkey saaid,"Certainlly! Lonely as I
am
m, I'll like youur company."

Aftter some chitt-chat with the

t monkey thet
croocodile returnned. While departing hee
saidd, "I'll surelyy come tomoorrow!" The next
dayy also the croocodile camee and the
Moonkey servedd him sweet Jamuns.
The Monnkey gave him sweet Jam muns for his wife.
The crocodile said to
o his wife, "IIt's a gift to you
y
from my friend." Thee wife enjoyyed the fruits and
said, " How sweet they are! Bring them for me m
tomorrow w too!"

One day the wife ask ked,"Who's the

t friend thaat gives
you suchh sweet fruitss daily?" Thhe crocodile
said,"Weell, he's a mo
onkey and hee lives on thee
yonder trree. You knoow how affecctionately hee sends
the Jamuuns for you!""

The wifee was shrewd d and she thoought to hersself, "If

the fruitss are so sweeet, how sweeet would be the
t
heart of that
t monkey who is alwaays fed on thhem?
How nicee if I could get
g his heart to eat?"
Shee said to the crocodile," Won't you ever
e
invvite your nobble friend to our abode? I
earrnestly desiree to see him.." The crocoodile
saidd,"O.K. I'll invite
i him annd see how heh
couuld be brougght here!" Buut he avoidedd
invviting the moonkey under one or the other
o
preetext. The wiife eagerly awaited
a the
moonkey's arrival.
 Her desire to eat the monkey's heart grew
so strong that she posed to be ill one day
and groaned as if with pain when the
crocodile came. The crocodile took he to be
really ill and said, " Oh dear, I am prepared
to do anything to restore you do health!"

The wife seized this opportunity and

said,"Only the monkey's heart can save me.
But I know you love your friend so much
that you'll never bring it."
The crocodile thought that he had duty towards his
wife too! So he said, "All right, I'm just now going
to bring him here!" The monkey was waiting for
the crocodile. He said," Friend, why are you so late
today?" The crocodile said, "Nothing serious, but a
quarrel with wife. She says I enjoy your hospitality
everyday without showing the courtesy to invite
you for dinner. She has resolved to kill herself if I
do not take you with me. The dinner is ready." The
monkey said,"She is right, but I don't know how to
across the waters to come to your abode." The
crocodile said,"Water is no problem, dear friend!
I'll carry you safely if you ride on my back."

The monkey frightfully said, "Friend kindly swim

slowly. I'm all drenched and frightened. Please do
not dive."

The crocodile thought it fit to disclose his intention

at this juncture. He said, "I must have to dive. I
have brought you here to kill you at the suggestion
of my wife."

The monkey was in trouble but he was intelligent

and resourceful as well. So he said in a composed
voice, "Dear friend, what wrong have I done to you
that you wish to kill me?"
The crocodile said, "Well, my wife is ill
and she can be saved only of she gets a
monkey's heart. Where else could I get it
except from you?" The monkey was
startled on hearing this but his resourceful
nature came to his rescue and he said
calmly,"Oh, my dear, if it's so why didn't
you tell me earlier? I would gladly give my
heart to save my beloved friend's wife. I
always put my heart in a safe place on that
tree. Had you asked for it there I would
have certainly given you on the spot. Now
we'll have to return to the tree to take it
 with us. Hurry up. We've no time. Her life
is very precious!"

The crocodile turned its back and swam

speedily. No sooner did they arrive at the
bank the monkey jumped over the tree and
said from there, "Good bye, Stupid
creature! Now go home and tell your wife
that you are the stupidest of all living
creature to believe that the heart could be
separated from the body!"

The crocodile was crestfallen. He said, "O

dear friend, I was just joking. Come on
again!" But the monkey would not be
deceived now.

He said,"Enough of it now. It's truly said in

scriptures - Never trust a betrayer or else
you'll put your life in danger."

Tit for Tat

Long ago there lived an honest merchant named
Dharamchand. He was very rich and he used to
donate generously to the poor and the needy out of
his wealth.

At one time his business fell on bad days and he

suffered a heavy loss. Now he had to borrow money
but these borrow money but these borrowings made
him bankrupt. As it was of no use crying over
misfortunes he resolved to shift to some foreign
land for earning. He sold off all that he had except
his weighing machine.

There was another merchant named Harakhchand in

the town. Because of good business-relations
Dharamchand went to him and narrated the story of
his downfall.
Harakhchand expressed his deep sorrow and
said, "How can I help you?" Dharamchand
replied, "I've a heavy weighing machine
which is difficult to carry. I'll be happy if
you keep it with you until I return."

After that Dharamchand went for business

and returned as successful business man. He
now thought of getting his weighing
machine back from Harakhchand. The later
gave excuses that the machine was damaged
by rats and he can only give it back, if he
can buy an old one from the market.
Dharamchand was socked but said, "If it's
damaged by rats than don't worry. Let's
forget about it." While Dharamchand was
living he asked Harakhchand if he would
send his son Dhanpal to the river so that he
can take care of the things. While
Dharamchand was taking a bath.
Harakhchand was greedy and tried to explain his
son, Dhanpal, to grab to precious things, but he fail
to understand it.

Near the river at the foot of the hill, there was a

cave. Dharamchand asked Dhanpal to go inside the
cave, while he was taking a bath. Dharamchand
sealed the cave with a big stone. He returned to
Harakhchand and said, "May heavens save me.
While both of us were returning a big eagle lifted
your son and flew away. "It's a white lie." cried
Harakhchand.
While they were both quarreling a wise man
took them to the judge. When both of them
told their own stories about the rats eating
the weighing scale and the eagle taking
away the boy, The judge thought there was
some mystery. He told Harakhchand,
"Return the weighing scale and
Dharamchand will return you your son."

Both had abide by the judgement to get their

belongings back.

The Three Fish

 There lived three fish in a pond. One
was called Agambuddhi. The second
Taratbudi, and the third Vilambbuddhi.
Agambuddhi thought much before
doing anything. In fact, she could
foresee the results of the action. So she
could take appropriate decisions
accordingly. Whenever you see her she
would be engrossed in deep thoughts.
Taratbuddhi took immediate decision
in all matters. If she were in trouble
she would quickly find its solution.
She was ever smiling and humorous.

Once Agambuddhi was swimming in

the water of the pond when she heard
two fishermen talking at the bank of
the pond. One fisherman said to the
other, "Look, how fat is that fish! As
such, there are plenty of fish in this
pond. We shall come here tomorrow
the catch them." As soon as
Agambuddhi heard this she thought to
herself, "These fisherman have
become greedy. They will come here
not only tomorrow but on all the days
after, and catch the fish. Now it is not
advisable to live here. Leaving this
pond is the only way to save life."
She talked about it with her friends
Taratbuddhi and Vilambbuddhi. She
gave her opinion also, "Dear friends, it
you believe me, must quit just now. the
pond is linked with canals. We must
go to the other pond to live there
peacefully throughout these canals."
Taratbuddhi reacted, "Oh, let the
fishermen come first. I've lived here all
my life. Why should I leave the pond
for fear such danger which has not yet
befallen. Fate does not spare any.
Things will happen as they are shaped
if you stay here or go elsewhere." And
she resumed swimming. the first fish
contemplated, "Once that I've learnt
about the coming danger, I must not
ignore it. Let me leave the pond
instantly." And truly did she do as she
thought.
 She reached another pond through the
canal. The next day both of those
fishermen came to the pond, spread
their net and caught many fish
including Taratbuddhi and
Vilambbudhi too. Taratbuddhi quickly
thoughts of a plan to save her life. She
lay in the net as if dead. The
fishermen weeded out the dead fish
from the net to throw them out as
useless.

Seeing Taratbuddhi thus lying still

they thoughts, "This is a dead fish."
Possibly it is rotten too. Let's throw it
back into the pond.

Taratbuddhi was thus saved and lived

in the pond.

Vilambbudhi had faith in fate. When

she knew she was caught, she tried to
escape form the net. She began to
jump and hop in the net. The
fisherman saw her jumping thus and
caught her to strangle her to death.

The Greedy Fox

Once there was a hunter. He followed a boar to hunt it. A
greedy fox saw this secretly.

It was like a race between the hunter and the boar. At last the
hunter could aim effectively at the boar. The wounded boar
attacked the hunter and killed him with its tusk before it died.
Now the dead bodies of both the hunter and the boar were
lying side by side. The hunter's bow was lying near his dead
body.

The fox came out of its hiding and said to itself, "Oh, I've got
food without any effort. the boar will be my meals for about
two months. Let me keep aside these two dead bodies and eat
the small dish first."

Then it caught the string of the bow and bit it. As soon as it bit
the string it was cut and the curved bow was straightened. The
sharp end of the bow entered into its palate and pierced it
through its skull. The fox was dead on the spot.