Mangoes And Monkeys

The depressed deer looked at the mangoes hanging high up from the tree and wished it could taste the mangoes before it falls to the ground and loses half its taste. It was more than three days, since the squirrel made fun of the deer who had never eaten a mango while it was hanging from the tree and said that the mangoes lose half their taste when they fall on the ground. The deer had no way of tasting the unreachable mangoes for neither was it tall nor had a long neck as the giraffe. All that it could do was dream about eating those mangoes.

As it was staring up the mango tree his friend came rushing, was gasping for breath and asked it to follow him. The deer followed his friend who was running at a very fast pace.
"What happened ?" the deer asked his friend. His friend replied that he had seen something very rare, which they had never seen before. "Its a white monkey" said his friend. The deer followed his friend eagerly to get a glimpse of this rare animal. His friend after running for a long time finally came to rest. "Maybe we missed him" said his friend. The two decided to turn back and on the way his friend was describing what he saw in great detail, when they came across a group of monkeys playing on a tree. The deer asked them about the rare white monkey which his friend was describing to him. The monkeys laughed and said there wasn't anything like a white monkey.

The deer got angry and looked at his friend whom it believed entirely. His friend however didn't answer the deer and instead asked the monkeys "Is it also true that the mangoes that hang from the tree lose half their taste when they fall on the ground?". Again the monkeys laughed and said it wasn't true.

The deer's friend said it apologised for making up the story, however it thought it was the only way it could make it understand that the mangoes losing their taste was as non-existent as the 'white monkey' .

The two deers laughed and returned back to their herd.

The Peacock And The Deers.

The peacock was resting on a tree branch when it heard a big roar by the Lion. It looked around but didn't find anyone nearby. However a little later it found a small group of deers walking upto the tree. The deers all looked tired and one deer told the peacock that they had been chased by the Lion, leopard and crocodile throughout the day and they hadn't rested for a long time and requested if the peacock could keep watch for predators while they slept under the tree. The peacock aggred to keep watch for them and should it find any sign of predator nearby, would alert the group of deers.

The deers rested after being assured by the peacock. Time passed and the peacock found a snake coming in the direction of the sleeping deers. The peacock however didn't alert the deers, for it didn't wish to disturb their sleep and instead went to counter the snake all by itself. Taking on a snake was no mean task, everytime the peacock attacked, the snake retaliated. As the attack and counter-attack continued, the scene of the fight moved away from the sleeping deers to a place far away from them, and it took a long time for the peacock to over come the snake.

In the meanwhile the deers woke-up and found the peacock missing from the tree. On not finding the peacock anywhere nearby the deers assumed the peacock had abandoned its vigil and were bitter at the peacock for not living up to its word.

A few days later as the group of deers were grazing they found a peacock sitting on a tree calling out to them. The bitter deers were in no mood to speak with any of the peacocks. The peacock on not getting a response from the deers, flew down near them and asked if they were the same group of deers who a few days back had asked for a peacock to stand vigil for them while they slept. The deers affirmed they were the same group of deers, however weren't intrested in speaking to any peacock as one of its members had not lived up to their word. The peacock was aghast and cried on hearing the deers speak so bitterly about the peacock.

The peacock said the deers were oblivious of the truth. It then narrated how the peacock had protected them from a snake by taking it single handedly and over-coming it, however the peacock died the next day because of injuries it suffered while fighting the snake.

Two Squirrels

Two young squirrels which went searching for food found a rather large mango, which was more than big enough for both of them to eat for the day. Since they couldn't move it to their place because of the sheer size, the two squirrels decided to eat as much of the mango and decided to hide the rest of the mango and hence dug a pit to hide the remaining mango, which they planned to eat the next day.

On returning the next day they found the mango missing from the place where they had hidden it. The first squirrel thought the mango had been eaten by some other animal in the forest, while the secound suspected the other squirrel of having eaten it without its knowledge, and thought the first squrrel was acting innocent.

The two squirrel then went searching for food when the secound squirrel suggested they split up and search for food as they would have much better chance of finding food. It also suggested that the one who finds food first should call out loud to the other, and both should share the find.

Both squirrels went in search of food in opposite directions. While the secound squirrel was the first to locate food, it however didn't share it with his friend as it suspected it had eaten the mango without its knowledge. Even as it was eating its find alone, it heard a call from the first squirrel indicating it had struck food. The secound squirrel went in the direction of the sound and found the first squirrel standing near what it had found - the mango that went missing.
It looked like some big animals must have walked through the place and hence the mango had went missing.

The secound squirrel felt bad and ashamed for suspecting his friend.

The Proud Ant

Just that the ants dont get tired and has the reputataion for being the most hardworking amoungst all animals. Even the big animals like lion and bear appreciated them. They rest at nothing and are always seen at work. While some appreciated them, other animals were puzzled.

One member in the big colony of ants was curious what other animals in the forest thought about them. Hence it set out to find what the other animals knew about the ants.

The ant first came across the bear. The bear said it thought highly about the ants and wished it could be as hardworking as the ants.

The ant then came across a cockroach. The cockroach said it could never be like the ants, as it thought the ants never sleep.

As it went further it met a crow and asked what it thought about ants. The crow said that the ants was always busy and didn't understand the need to be busy and working all the time. It said that life should be enjoyed and not spend working all the time. The ant said that the crow didn't understand the ants that well, and that the ants enjoyed working and work was a way to enjoy the life. The crow said that it greatly appreciated the ant's thought and it flew away.

The ant then came across a group of crane. The cranes said it just didn't understand why the ants keep collecting and storing food as they don't store food. The ant explained that this helps, when it rains and when it becomes impossible to go out they depend on the food they had collected. The crane said that it only regarded the ants as hard-working animals, and that from now on it considered them to be wise too.

The ant came across other animals and almost all of them considered ants as dedicated and hard-working. It couldn't come across any animal that thought low about the ants.

As the ant was returning to its colony, it remembered what other animals thought about them and felt very proud and wondered if there were any animals which had a reputation as good as the ants.

As it went, it came across a snail. The ant put the question it asked other animals to the snail. The snail didn't reply, however the ant was firm on an answer from the snail. Finally the snail said "you see the tree behind me, i am walking from there since morning. Now here is my answer 'I do as much work as you ants do, just that nobody notices it' "

The ant was finally humbled by the snail.

The Young But Foolish Cranes.

The young cranes as a group wanted to be different from their elders in their community. They thought they were clever and smart than the aged cranes. When it was time for their migration, the young cranes questioned the rational behind migration when there was sufficient fish available in the river. The young cranes wonderd why they should strain and tire themselves and fly to a far off land when sufficient fish was available nearby. The elder cranes persisted it was in their intrest to leave the place when there was sufficient fish available in the river. When time came, the community of cranes left the forest leaving behind the young ones.

The young cranes enjoyed their time alone, with pleanty of food around they mocked at the stupidity of the other cranes in moving out of the forest. However, as time passed and summer approached the quantity of fish in the river decreased. The most clever crane amoung them, instead of taking this as a sign to fly away, suggested they should take lead from the ants and begin to collect and store fish when it was still available and rely on the stored fish when there wasn't any. Hence the cranes caught as much fish was available in the river and put them up in nests abandoned by crows and eagle, and to protect it from other animals covered them with dry grass. When summer peaked and there was hardly any fish left in the river, the cranes went back to check on the stored fish, which to their disappointment had decayed and was hardly edible. The clever crane in the group, again thought cleverly. It said instead of storing fish they should have stored water and put the fish in them. The other members of the group who were hungry and not finding much to eat, found the suggestion plainly stupid. They cursed the crane and wondered how they could be so naive to follow the foolish advises of the crane.

Desperate, the cranes flew out of the forest hoping to catch up with their wise elders.

The Ant And The Lizard

Tireless as they always were the ants went on collecting food as usual as any other day. The ant in this story is no different and he goes on following as all his fellow ants do. One day as he went scouting for new sources of food he saw a grasshopper which was injured and could hardly move. The ant went near the grasshopper's leg to take a bite, when the grasshopper which was in deep pain asked the ant to leave it alone. The grasshopper said it was very badly injured and could harly move and would die shortly, all it requested was to be left alone instead of being torn to pieces by the ant. The ant pondered on the grasshopper's meek request and said it was leaving the grasshopper alone for now, however will be back in a few hours. The grasshopper thanked the ant, and the ant left the place to look for food elsewhere.

As the ant wandered around looking for food it was encountered by a lizard. The lizard looked really hungry and as it was about to put its tongue out to eat the ant. The ant said ' I am a small ant and what hunger of your's will I satisfy'. The ant told the lizard about the dying grasshopper and said the grasshopper being many times bigger than the ant will be able to satisfy its hunger. The lizard aggred and asked the ant to take it to the grasshopper - which had died by the time they reached it. The greedy lizard instead of eating the grasshopper turned to relish the ant first. The ant pleaded for mercy on the grounds that it took the lizard to the grasshopper, however the lizard denied it mercy. The lizard said it was so hungry that the grasshopper and the ant put together wouldn't satisfy its hunger and wanted to eat the ant first lest it runs away while its eating the grasshopper. Once again the lizard was about to put its tounge out to eat the ant when it heard sounds of grasshopper being dragged away. Turning back the lizard saw another lizard trying to run away with the grasshopper in its mouth. Angry at its food being stolen the lizard began to chase other lizard. While it successed in chasing the other lizard, it failed in retriving the grasshopper which was swallowed by the other lizard. Disappointed the lizard returned to the eat the ant, only to find it had escaped.