Inspirational Stories: September 2019

The Old Man and the Three Young Men

Once, three strong Young Men lived in a village. They did not do any work at all and just roamed around the village, making fun of people.

One day, the three Young Men were walking on the road. At a farm, they saw an Old Man, with grey hair and a grey beard. They noticed that he was planting some fruit trees.

A Young Man laughed at him and said, Why are you planting those trees?” The second Young Man said, “You are so old now You may not live to eat the fruit.” “Oh Young Men! My trees will give fruits, in some years. Maybe I do not live to eat any of these fruits but many others can enjoy them. This way they will remember me, as, through hard work, I will leave my mark even after I die. But what do you do? How will people remember you?”

The three Young Men understood that the Old Man was right. They knew that they would only be remembered as fools.

Thus, from that day onwards, they started working very hard.

Good deeds are remembered even after death!

The Mice and the Owl

Once, there lived a Wise Owl. He made his nest in the hollow of a tree.

He would fly to a particular tree, every day and pick up his food. Then, he would fly back home and slowly enjoy his meal, there.

One day, the other birds asked him how he got his food so easily.

The Wise Owl said, “I was flying one day, when I saw the halfThe Mice and the Owl chopped-down bark of a tree. It was full of insects and Mice. When I tried to catch the Mice, some of them ran away too quickly. So, I thought of an idea. I
began to feed the Mice with wheat, every day. The Mice became fat and healthy. Then I bit off all their feet!”

The Birds understood that the footless Mice now could not run. They waited each day for the Owl to bring them wheat.
The Owl brought them food faithfully each day.

Then, every day he would pick up one Mouse and take it home to eat! In this way the Owl had well-fed meals ready and waiting for him. He did not have to go in search of food ever!

Always make wise plans to make life easy in the future.

A Wizard and a Mouse

Long ago, there lived a great Wizard. One day, as he was walking through the village, a Mouse fell to

the ground from the beak of a crow. He picked up the Mouse and fed him some rice.

Then, one day, the Wizard saw a Cat chasing the Mouse around the village. Scared that his pet Mouse would be killed by the Cat, he turned the Mouse into a Cat so that it could defend itself.

The next day, the Wizard saw his Cat frightened by a Tiger and immediately changed him into a

Tiger.

The villagers said, “That’s not a Tiger! It’s just a Mouse that the Wizard changed into a Tiger. He won’t eat us or even scare us.”

When the Tiger heard this, he was furious with the Wizard. He thought, ‘As long as the Wizard is alive, the truth about my real nature will always be spoken!’

But as soon as the Wizard saw the Tiger coming, he understood his plan and shouted, “Get back into the

form of a Mouse.”

The Tiger shrank and became a little Mouse, once again.

Whoever we grow up to be, we should always be humble.

The Partridge and the Cocks

A farmer found a Partridge in his fields and took it home. At home, he cut the wings of the Partridge and left him to live in the little yard where he kept his fighting Cocks.

The Cocks were not very friendly animals. At first, they did not talk to the Partridge, at all.

Then, after some days, they started being rude to him.

They said, “What an ugly fellow you are! You have no wings and cannot fly. We do not understand why the farmer has kept a useless bird like you with great birds like us!”

The Partridge was very sad.

One day, the farmer went to the market with his family. The birds were left alone at home. Suddenly, a Fox came and jumped on the two Cocks. He held both the Cocks under his paws.

Just then, the Partridge jumped on his back and pecked him, sharply. The Fox let go of the two Cocks and was about to hurt the Partridge. However, the farmer returned. He hit the Fox with a stick. Thus, the Fox ran away.

The Cocks thanked the Partridge for saving their lives. Since then, they became good friends.

A kind heart will help you make friends, easily.

The Man and Apollo

There once lived a Man in a village. He was very cunning and often cheated the villagers. He did not believe in God and thought he was cleverer than God.

One day, the Man went to the temple of Apollo.

He called all the villagers to the temple. He said to them, “I will prove that I am much more intelligent than Apollo.”

The Man had a plan. He took a silver ring coated with gold paint with him. He held out the ring in his hand and said, “Oh, Apollo, if you are a God, then tell me what I hold in my hand…silver or gold?”

The Man thought if Apollo said “silver” he would not do anything, but, if he said “gold,” he would quickly wipe off the paint. Apollo could answer anyway he liked. It would be the wrong answer.

The mighty, all-knowing Apollo understood his trick.

He thundered, “Show me the ring now I know that it is of silver and painted gold. You dare to challenge the Gods! Your tricks will lead you to misfortune. If you displease the Gods, they will make you very unhappy!”

It is foolish to challenge God.