THE CATTY MONKEY

Once there were two cats who were good friends.

One cat found a pancake and brought it to the other so that both of them could share it. A monkey was eyeing the pancake sitting on a tree.

The first cat divided the pancake into two equal halves and gave one half to the second cat.

But the second cat said, "You have taken the bigger piece and given me the smaller one."

Soon they were fighting over the size of the piece of pancake. The monkey climbed down the tree and interrupted them.

He said, "I will help you with the problem. You say that this piece of pancake is bigger."

The monkey took a piece and put it in his mouth. Then he compared the two halves again.

He said, "Now they are equal. Oh Lord! The two halves are still not equal." He took a big bite from the bigger one.

The two cats thought that the monkey was trying to help them solve their problem, but then they saw that the monkey kept on eating the pancake, and after a while only a little of it was left.

In the end, he finished the whole pancake and then, the cats realized that the monkey had fooled both of them. From this, the cats learnt the lesson that they should not have fought between themselves.

The clever crow

A crow was thirsty and wanted to drink water. He flew around looking for water.

All the ponds of the area had dried up because it was summers, and it had not rained for many days.

The crow flew to the huts in the village to look for water. He felt very happy when he found one earthen pot lying on the ground.

But when he went near the pot, he saw that there was very little water inside it.

There was no way in which the crow could reach the water in the pot.

The crow felt like crying. He was so near the water, yet could not drink it.

Then he thought, "Crying will not help me. I have to try and do something on my own. I have to think and find a way out."

The crow thought, "If I cannot get to the water, then let the water come to me."

He wondered for some time. Then he looked around. He thought if he could raise the level of the water, then he could easily drink it. He thought and thought very hard.

Suddenly, the crow saw some small stones and pebbles lying around.

Ho got an idea. He thought, "If I put these pebbles inside the pot, the water will rise. Let me try. I must not give up."

The crow flew and picked up a small stone, then flew back and put it in the pot.

Then he flew back again and then again. It was hard work but the crow did not give up. Slowly, the stones and pebbles settled at the bottom of the pot and the water started rising.

The crow felt very happy. He went on working hard, by putting stones and pebbles in the pot.

Then the water slowly came up as the crow put pebble after pebble in the pot.

In this way, the clever crow was able to drink the water and quench his thirst.

After drinking the water, the crow thought, "Water has never tasted so good. It feels so nice, because it was my idea to bring the water up the pot and I have worked really hard for this water."