India : The Story of A Blind Vulture, Some Birds and A Cat

Posted by dea.diar.rensy.auL , , Tuesday, 4 May 2010 6:26 am

.Folktale from India.

here was once a hill that sloped down to the banks of a river.

 At the foot of the hill, there grew a tree and in the hollow of this tree, lived a blind old vulture.

 Many other birds lived in the same tree and out of kindness shared their food with the vulture.


In return, he looked after their young whilst they were away.

 One day, a cat came to the foot of the tree with the hope of catching and eating the baby birds.

 But when the little birds saw her coming, they raised an alarm. The blind vulture heard them and shouted, "Who's there?"

 When the cat saw the vulture, she got frightened and said to herself; "Heavens! I am as good as dead. But I must be brave and face danger. I must try to gain his confidence."

 "I….I….I just came to pay my respects, oh wise one," said the cat loudly. "Who are you?" asked the vulture.

 "I am only a poor cat," she replied.

 "Go away or else I'll eat you up," shouted the vulture.

 "Sir, listen to me first," said the cat, "then you can kill me. But do you kill someone just because he belongs to a particular race?"

"All right," said the vulture. "I am willing to listen to you. But tell me why have you come here?"

 "I live nearby on the banks of the river Ganges," said the cat." I don't eat meat. I have a bath everyday in the river and I am doing great penance for my sins.

 When the birds there came to know about this, they told me, "You must learn more about religion from the old vulture who is famous for his knowledge and wisdom." "They all praised you. That is why I have come to pay my respects to you. But what do I see? That you're ready to kill me, a poor cat.

You should treat me as well as a guest ought to be treated. Even if you haven't any food to offer me, at least say something kind to me."

 "But you are a meat-eater and young birds live here. So how can I trust you?" said the old, blind vulture.

 The cat touched the ground and her ears as a mark of her sincerity and said, "I've read all the holy books and learn that's wrong to kill. The entire forest is full of herbs and vegetables. So why should I sin by killing birds?"

 Thus the cat won the confidence of the old blind vulture and the latter allowed her to stay in the hollow of the tree.

 As the days passed, the cunning cat started eating the young birds one by one and the vulture did not know what was happening.

 But the birds saw that their young ones were missing and started looking for them.

 When the cat saw that her game was up, she quietly slipped away.

After a few days, the birds found the bones of their young ones not far away from the tree.

 "Ha!" said the birds, "the blind, old vulture has eaten our dear young children." The birds got together and killed the vulture. As for the cat, once a rascal, always a rascal.

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India : The Story Of a Crow, a Deer and a Jackal

Posted by dea.diar.rensy.auL , , 6:20 am

.Folktale from India.

In a big forest, there lived a deer and a crow. They were great friends. The deer had grown plump and roamed about the forest without a care in the world.
One day, a jackal caught sight of the plump little deer.
"Hmmm!" said the jackal. "What a tasty dish the tender flesh of this young deer will make for me. Well, to begin with, I'II try to win his confidence."


The jackal thought it over and went across to the deer.
"Hello," he said. "How are things with you?"
"Who are you?" asked the deer.
"I am a jackal and I live in the forest here all by myself. I have no friends. Now that I've met you, I'd like to be your pal and will do anything you say to please you."
"Well, all right then," said the deer.
Afterward, when the sun had set, the two walked to the deer's home.
The deer's friend, the crow, lived nearby on the branch of a tree.
When he saw the jackal, he called out. "Friend deer, who is that you're with?"
"It's a jackal. He wants to be friends with us and so he has come along with me," said the deer.
"Do you think it's wise to make friends so quickly with someone you know nothing about?"Said the crow.
"You don't know what his family is like or what sort of a character he has. How can you invite him to stay with you without knowing all that?"
"C-r-o-w!" shouted the jackal angrily, "When you first met the deer, did you know anything about him, his family or his conduct? Then how is it that you are such great friends today?"
"Oh please, let's not argue," said the deer. "Let's all be friends. You can only know a friend from an enemy by the way he behaves."
"Oh all right," said the crow," as you wish."
And so they all started living together...
In this way, some time went by.
One day, the jackal took the deer aside and said to him, "Friend! In another part of the forest, there's a field full of corn. I'll takes you there and shows it to you."
The jackal took the deer along and showed him the field.
The deer began to go there every day and eat to his heart's content.
When the owner of the field noticed that someone was eating his corn, he set a trap and the deer was caught.
"Oh no! I must now count on my friend He will surely free me from this trap," the deer thought to himself.
Meanwhile, the jackal arrived on the scene and thought to himself, "This is what I have been waiting for. When he is killed by the owner of the field, his flesh will last me many, many days."
When the deer caught sight of the jackal, he shouted, "Oh friend! Please help me out! Only a friend like you can save me from such a dreadful plight!"
"But buddy," said the jackal, "the noose is made of skin, so how can I touch it today, on my day of fasting? Please don't misunderstand me! I will bite it off first thing tomorrow morning!"
At sunset, when the deer had not returned home, the crow got worried. He set out looking for him until he reached the corn field.
Suddenly he spotted him. "Friend deer! What has happened to you?" said the crow in anguish.
"This is what happens when you don't listen to a friend's advice," replied the deer.
And then he told the crow how the jackal had shown the corn field to him to get him trapped.
"Where is this villain?" asked the crow angrily.
"He's hiding somewhere in the vicinity, waiting for an opportunity to kill me for his food," answered the deer.
"I had warned you never to trust strangers but you took no notice!" said the crow.
Then the crow sighed and shouted, "Jackal! Cheat! Rascal! What have you done? How could you trick someone who trusted you?
The crow decided to stay on to keep his friend company.
In the morning, the farmer returned with a stick in his hand.
When the crow saw him coming, he said to the deer, "Quick! Do as I tell you! Lie still without moving and pretend to be dead. When I caw, jump up and run for your life."
The deer lay down motionless on the ground and pretended to be dead.
When the farmer came very close to the deer, his face lit up with joy and said to himself," How nice! The deer is already dead."
Then, he set him free and started picking up the noose. At this moment, the crow signaled to the deer who jumped up and ran away as fast as he could.
The farmer taken by surprise, immediately aimed the stick at the deer but missed him. Instead, it hit the jackal who was hiding close by and killed him on the spot.
The deer learns that it is better to have an open enemy than a false friend.

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India : The Story of An Old Tiger and A Greedy Traveller

Posted by dea.diar.rensy.auL , , 6:09 am

.Folktale from India.

Once upon a time, there was a tiger who grew so old that he could hardly go about hunting. So he thought of a plan.

One fine morning, he stood in a lake and holding a blade of holy Kusha grass in one paw and a gold bracelet in the other, shouted out, "Here you are, Ladies and Gentlemen! A gold bracelet! Yours for the asking."


A traveler passing by liked the look of the gold bracelet. He stopped and said to himself, "This looks like a piece of good luck.

However, when there is a risk involved, one must play it safe. So I'll be wary."

Then the man said to the tiger, "Where is this gold bracelet?"

The tiger opened his paw and showed it to him.

"But how can I trust you," asked the man, "Knowing that you are a killer?"

"Listen traveler, "said the tiger, "I admit, in my youth, I was wicked and killed many cows and human beings.

My wife and children died because of my evil deeds. Then I consulted a holy man who advised me to give alms.

So now I take a bath and give things for the sake of charity. Besides, I've gone old. My teeth and claws have fallen off. So what have you to fear from me?"

The traveler was taken in by this clever talk and went into the lake, but got struck in the deep mud.

When the tiger saw this, he comforted him. "Oh! Don't worry. I'll help you," he said, and slowly waded towards the traveler and seized him.

As he was being dragged out, onto the bank, the poor man gasped, "Ah! This Villain's talk of holiness completely took me in. A rascal is always a rascal. Like a fool I believed him and now I must pay for it."

Soon after that, the tiger killed the traveler and ate him up.

The traveler should have known that one's nature never changes.

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India : The Story of A Crow, A Hunter, Some Doves and A Mouse

Posted by dea.diar.rensy.auL , , 5:58 am

.Folktale from India.

On the banks of the river Godavari, stood a huge silk-cotton tree. At night, the birds from all around used to come to this tree and rest there.

Once at dawn, when the moon was setting over western mountains, a crow woke up and saw a hunter coming towards the tree.

He looked like Yama, the God of Death...

When the crow saw him, he was frantic and thought to himself, "This looks grim. I don't like the look of this at all."

Thinking thus, he started following the hunter.

After some time, the hunter stopped and looked around. He took out some grains of rice from his bag, scattered them on the ground and then spread out his net over the grains

When he had done this, he hid himself behind the tree.

Just then, the king of doves with his courtiers was flying around in search of food.

He saw the grains of rice and said to his followers, "How strange! Grains of rice in an uninhabited forest? Let's see what this is all about. I smell a rat!"

But being greedy, the doves didn't listen to their king and flew down to pick up the grains of rice. Whoops! In a trice, they were all caught in the net.

A terrific commotion broke out amongst the trapped doves.

Then the king cried out, "Friends, we are in great danger. Unless we pull ourselves together immediately and think of a way to get out, there's no doubt that we shall all be dead.

Now I propose that we all catch hold of the net at the same time and fly upwards together."

The birds agreed. They caught hold of the net and together flew away with it. When the hunter saw this, he was spellbound and didn't know what to do.

But he soon came to himself and began to run after them, thinking, "These birds have managed the escape because they are united. But when they come down, I'll have them in my power!"

However, the doves flew very fast and were soon out of sight. They then asked their king," What shall we do now?"

"I have a very dear friend," he said, "a mouse who lives on the banks of the river Godavari. We'll go to him. I know he will find a way to free us!"

So, they all flew to the place where the mouse lived. When the mouse saw the birds flying down towards him, he got frightened and ran inside his hole at the root of a tree.

But the king of doves called out, "My friend! Don't you know me? Come and set us free."

When the mouse heard this, he recognized his friend's voice and came out quickly. The king of doves told him all that had happened and the mouse immediately started nibbling at the strings of the net and set the birds free.

The crow, which had flown along and had been watching this from a nearby tree, was full of admiration for their friendship and said to himself, "Well, it's true what they say, a friend in need is a friend indeed".

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