The Pigeon, The Fox and the Peacock

There lived a beautiful pigeon in a nice little nest on high tree. Unfortunately for the pigeon, a fox used to visit her whenever her young came out of their eggs. He would stand under the tree and say that he would climb up and catch her if she did not drop her young birds down to him. And the frightened pigeon used to drop her young every time the fox came.

Once a peacock saw her, and heard her crying over her lost babies. When he learned what was the matter, he advised her that the next time the fox came she should say to him, “Come and catch me if you can.”

The fox came as usual and shouted to her to drop her young. She said, “Come and catch me if you can,” just as the peacock had taught her. And the fox, knowing that his trick had failed, asked her, “who told you to say that, sweet pigeon?” Without thinking, the pigeon answered, the peacock taught me that, Mr. Fox.”

The next day the fox went the peacock to punish him. When he met the peacock he began praising him. “How wonderful your feathers are and how beautiful your neck is, “he said. “Tell me how do you keep your beautiful eyes safe from dust when the wind blows on you, my dear?” The peacock answered at once, “I put my head under my wing, Mr. Fox.” 

The fox asked the peacock to show him how such a thing was done, and the trusting peacock, little suspecting what was in store for him, tucked his head under his wing. Instantly the fox jumped on him saying, “You shouldn’t have interfered in matters belonging to others.” And what a fine, fat meal the peacock was!

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER

Once there lived an ant and a grasshopper in a grassy meadow.
All day long the ant would work hard, collecting grains of wheat from the farmer's field far away. She would hurry to the field every morning, as soon as it was light enough to see by, and toil back with a heavy grain of wheat balanced on her head. She would put the grain of wheat carefully away in her larder, and then hurry back to the field for another one. All day long she would work, without stop or rest, scurrying back and forth from the field, collecting the grains of wheat and storing them carefully in her larder.
The grasshopper would look at her and laugh. 'Why do you work so hard, dear ant?' he would say. 'Come, rest awhile, listen to my song. Summer is here, the days are long and bright. Why waste the sunshine in labour and toil?'
The ant would ignore him, and head bent, would just hurry to the field a little faster. This would make the grasshopper laugh even louder. 'What a silly little ant you are!' he would call after her. 'Come, come and dance with me! Forget about work! Enjoy the summer! Live a little!' And the grasshopper would hop away across the meadow, singing and dancing merrily.
Summer faded into autumn, and autumn turned into winter. The sun was hardly seen, and the days were short and grey, the nights long and dark. It became freezing cold, and snow began to fall.
The grasshopper didn't feel like singing any more. He was cold and hungry. He had nowhere to shelter from the snow, and nothing to eat. The meadow and the farmer's field were covered in snow, and there was no food to be had. 'Oh what shall I do? Where shall I go?' wailed the grasshopper. Suddenly he remembered the ant. 'Ah - I shall go to the ant and ask her for food and shelter!' declared the grasshopper, perking up. So off he went to the ant's house and knocked at her door. 'Hello ant!' he cried cheerfully. 'Here I am, to sing for you, as I warm myself by your fire, while you get me some food from that larder of yours!'
The ant looked at the grasshopper and said, 'All summer long I worked hard while you made fun of me, and sang and danced. You should have thought of winter then! Find somewhere else to sing, grasshopper! There is no warmth or food for you here!' And the ant shut the door in the grasshopper's face.
It is wise to worry about tomorrow today.
THE END

THE FOX AND THE GOAT

From Aesop Fables

One hot sunny day, a thirsty fox was looking down into a deep well, and fell in.
"I wanted some water, but not this much" said the fox to himself, as he splashed around in the water.
"Now how am I going to get out of here" he said, looking up at the top of the well.
Just then a thirsty goat came to the well. He looked down and was surprised to see the fox in the water.
"What are you doing down there?" asked the goat.
"I came down to get some of this wonderful cool water" said the fox, pretending everything was alright.
"Come on down and try some. It's the best water you'll ever taste" he shouted up at the goat. 'And there isn't any more water for miles."
"I'm thirsty, and that water does look so good" thought the goat.
"OK. Look out, I'm coming down," the goat shouted to the fox as he jumped down into the well.
Just as the goat started drinking, the fox said, "There's one small problem. The top of the well is so high it's going to be hard getting out of here. But don't worry I have a plan."
"If," he said to the goat "you put your front feet on the wall of the well, I'll run up your back and jump up to the top. Once I'm out I'll help you to get out too."
The goat did as he was told and the fox leapt onto his back, jumped up on to his horns, and then scrambled up out of the well.
"That was a really good plan" said the fox.
"See you later" he said, looking down at the goat.
"But, what about me?" cried the goat from the bottom of the well.
"If you had any brains you would never have gone down there until you had worked out how to get out." said the fox.
"Have you ever heard the expression, look before you leap?" laughed the fox as he ran away.
THE END

The frog and The Crocodile

Once, there was a frog who lived in the middle of a swamp. His entire family had lived in that swamp for generations, but this particular frog decided that he had had quite enough wetness to last him a lifetime. He decided that he was going to find a dry place to live instead.
The only thing that separated him from dry land was a swampy, muddy, swiftly flowing river. But the river was home to all sorts of slippery, slittering snakes that loved nothing better than a good, plump frog for dinner, so Frog didn't dare try to swim across.
So for many days, the frog stayed put, hopping along the bank, trying to think of a way to get across.
The snakes hissed and jeered at him, daring him to come closer, but he refused. Occasionally they would slither closer, jaws open to attack, but the frog always leaped out of the way. But no matter how far upstream he searched or how far downstream, the frog wasn't able to find a way across the water.
He had felt certain that there would be a bridge, or a place where the banks came together, yet all he found was more reeds and water. After a while, even the snakes stopped teasing him and went off in search of easier prey.
The frog sighed in frustration and sat to sulk in the rushes. Suddenly, he spotted two big eyes staring at him from the water. The giant log-shaped animal opened its mouth and asked him, "What are you doing, Frog? Surely there are enough flies right there for a meal."
The frog croaked in surprise and leaped away from the crocodile. That creature could swallow him whole in a moment without thinking about it! Once he was a satisfied that he was a safe distance away, he answered. "I'm tired of living in swampy waters, and I want to travel to the other side of the river. But if I swim across, the snakes will eat me."
The crocodile harrumphed in agreement and sat, thinking, for a while. "Well, if you're afraid of the snakes, I could give you a ride across," he suggested.
"Oh no, I don't think so," Frog answered quickly. "You'd eat me on the way over, or go underwater so the snakes could get me!"
"Now why would I let the snakes get you? I think they're a terrible nuisance with all their hissing and slithering! The river would be much better off without them altogether! Anyway, if you're so worried that I might eat you, you can ride on my tail."
The frog considered his offer. He did want to get to dry ground very badly, and there didn't seem to be any other way across the river. He looked at the crocodile from his short, squat buggy eyes and wondered about the crocodile's motives. But if he rode on the tail, the croc couldn't eat him anyway. And he was right about the snakes--no self-respecting crocodile would give a meal to the snakes.
"Okay, it sounds like a good plan to me. Turn around so I can hop on your tail."
The crocodile flopped his tail into the marshy mud and let the frog climb on, then he waddled out to the river. But he couldn't stick his tail into the water as a rudder because the frog was on it -- and if he put his tail in the water, the snakes would eat the frog. They clumsily floated downstream for a ways, until the crocodile said, "Hop onto my back so I can steer straight with my tail." The frog moved, and the journey smoothed out.
From where he was sitting, the frog couldn't see much except the back of Crocodile's head. "Why don't you hop up on my head so you can see everything around us?" Crocodile invited.
"But I don't want to see anything else," the frog answered, suddenly feeling nervous.
"Oh, come now. It's a beautiful view! Surely you don't think that I'm going to eat you after we're halfway across. My home is in the marsh-- what would be the point of swimming across the river full of snakes if I didn't leave you on the other bank?"
Frog was curious about what the river looked like, so he climbed on top of Crocodile's head. The river looked almost pretty from this view. He watched dragonflies darting over the water and smiled in anticipation as he saw firm ground beyond the cattails. When the crocodile got close enough, the frog would leap off his head towards freedom. He wouldn't give the croc a chance to eat him.
"My nose tickles," the crocodile complained suddenly, breaking into the frog's train of thought. "I think there might be a fly buzzing around it somewhere, or a piece of cattail fluff swept into it while I was taking you across the river."
"I don't see a fly," the frog said, peering at the crocodile's green snout. It seemed odd that anything could tickle a crocodile through it's thick skin.
"Would you go check my nose for a piece of cattail fluff, then?" the crocodile begged, twitching his nose. "I'm afraid I'll sneeze and send you flying. I don't want to feed you to the snakes." A tear seeped out of his eye, as if he was holding back a mighty sneeze.
The bank isn't too far, the frog thought. And it's the least he could do to repay him for bringing him over. So he hopped onto the crocodile's snout and checked the nostrils. Just a little closer, and he could jump... "I don't see--" he began.
Just then, with a terrific CHOMP! the frog disappeared. The crocodile licked his lips in satisfaction and gave a tiny half-sneeze. "Good, I feel much better already," he smiled, and turned around to go back home.
THE END

THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

From Aesop Fables

One morning, Hare hopped down to the lake, to rest in the warm sunshine. Other animals were already there. Fox was lying on the rocks, cleaning her soft sandy coat, and Tortoise was munching the sweet grass near the water’s edge. Hare stopped and watched them for a while.
Soon Fox yawned and drifted off to sleep, but Tortoise carried on waddling around slowly, her little pink tongue pulling in each mouthful of grass. Hare flicked his long ears and hopped over to her. Tortoise stopped chewing, and stared up at him.
“You look funny when you eat,” laughed Hare. “Your feet are short and stumpy, and you move so slowly. No wonder you spend so much time eating – it takes you forever to get enough grass.”
Tortoise just stared at him, and then started chewing again. Hare was annoyed. He wanted everyone to talk to him. He drummed one of his big feet on the ground.
“I’m the fastest animal,” he shouted. “When I run at full speed, no-one can beat me.” He looked across at Fox, who was awake again and watching carefully. “I challenge anyone to a race,” said Hare, flicking his ears proudly.
No one answered. Then Tortoise swallowed her mouthful of grass. “I accept,” she said. “Even if you are as fast as the wind, I can still beat you in a race.”
Hare laughed loudly. “I accept the challenge,” he said. Tortoise suggested that Fox should choose when they would race, where they would start and the finish point. Fox thought it was all very amusing, and suggested the day after tomorrow as race day.
When the time came, the Hare and the Tortoise lined up at the flat rock, which was Fox’s designated starting point. He told them they should go round the edge of the lake and the first one past the old fallen tree would be declared the winner. The race began.
Hare bounded off at top speed and soon rounded a bend and was out of sight. Tortoise moved at a slow, steady pace – never stopping to rest or eat. Running by the side of the lake, Hare felt the warm sun on his back and slowed a little. Then he stopped. “Umm,” he said, stretching. “It’ll take Tortoise forever to catch up. I’ve got time for a nap.” And he burrowed into the grass and dozed off.
Tortoise plodded and shuffled on, round the bend, past the sleeping Hare and on towards the finish point. By now the sun was low over the lake and evening was coming.
Hare stirred as he felt the temperature drop, then remembering the race, he leaped up and hopped off again. In the distance he saw Fox and the other animals gathered near the fallen tree finish point.
“Good. They’re waiting to cheer me when I win,” he laughed as he ran. Then he saw Tortoise on a grassy mound right next to the tree. Fox was talking to her. Hare bounded up as quickly as he could. He couldn’t believe he had lost. Fox nodded to him and asked everyone to be quiet. Then he congratulated Tortoise on winning the race. Tortoise was tired, and drifted off to sleep.
Some of the other animals crowded round Hare to ask him what happened. He should have won, shouldn’t he? His legs were much longer than tortoise’s and he’d won other races in the past. Hare was angry with himself and felt very silly.
THE END