THE PAINTING

Once a king went for hunting in forest, as the sun began to set, ordered his men to camp.

He loved painting, so to relax; he went onto the top of a hill to paint. He saw the beautiful sunset and decided to paint it.

He kept on painting and as soon as he had finished, he looked at the painting to see how it looked.

He went to the left and saw the painting. Then he went to th right to see whether it looked all right and perfect.

He also stepped back to see the painting. However, when the king moved back, he did not realize that the was right on the edge of the hill.

Just then, a shepherd boy, who was taking his sheep back home, saw the king standing on the edge of the hill.

He ran up the hill but the king was on the other side. The king was standing right on the edge of the hill.

The boy knew that he had to be very careful and there was no time to waste. At any moment, the king could fall off the high cliff.

The boy thought that even if he shouted, the king might get started and lose his balance, the boy then quickly ran and tore the painting. The king was shocked and angrily, he came towards the painting. In this way, the king's life was saved.

The king did not know that the boy had saved him from falling down the cliff. He slapped the boy hard and shouted at him saying, "How dare you tear my painting?"

'I am sorry, my Lord, but please look behind. You were standing on the very edge of the hill," said the frightened shepherd boy.

the king looked behind and couldn't believe his eyes. If he had taken another step backwards, he could have fallen down.

The boy continued, "Yes, you could have fallen down. My Lord. So I tore the painting because then it was sure that you would get away from the edge of the hill."

The king said, "Oh! You have been very clever. I am sorry; I hit you when you have actually saved my life."

"Don't worry about that. I can always paint another one, but had I fallen down, it would have surely been my end, "said the king.

The king walked back with the boy and then rewarded him for saving his life.

The king then told the boy that he should go to school to study, and that he would pay for it. The boy was delighted and thanked the king.

THE FOOLISH KING

Once there was a king who did not use his brain before he did anything.

Without thinking, he would speak in his court and then afterwards, repent his words and actions.

One day, he was walking in his beautiful garden. It had rained in the morning, and the air was cool and pleasantly crisp.

The king was in a happy mood but all of a sudden, he screamed.

a thorn had pricked his foot and it was giving him a lot of pain. This made him very angry.

Then the king sent his guard to call the prime minister, who was a very wise man.

As soon as the prime minister came the king said angrily, "You do not look after my kingdom well. Just now my foot was hurt by a throne. It has caused me lot of pain."

"I am sorry to hear that, "Replied the prime minister.

"What is the use of your being sorry?

It will not cure the pain of the thorn prick, "shouted the king angrily.

Though a guard had taken out the thorn, the king was still in a lot of pain.

"I will call the doctor," said the prime minister.

"That has already been done, but you are not looking after my kingdom properly," said the king.

"I try my best, My Lord, 'assured the prime minister.

"Your best is not good enough. Why was the thorn there at all?"Asked the king.

"But, My Lord, what can I do about that?"Asked the surprised prime minister.

"Cover my whole kingdom with carpets so that no one is hurt by thorns," said the king.

"How can that be done, My Lord? It is not possible to cover every inch of this vast kingdom with carpets. It would simply not work, "replied the prime minister.

"Mu Lord, I have another idea. Why don't you wear leather on your feet? Then thorns won't hurt you, "said the prime minister.

The king agreed happily. The prime minister then got beautiful leather shoes made for the king. The king was pleased and no thorn ever hurt his feet again!