THE WISE CAP SELLER

A cap seller had gone to another village to sell his caps. He could not sell many caps.

As he was walking back to his village, he began to feel very tired.

He sat down under a tree to rest and kept his bag full of caps on one side.

He was so very tired that he fell asleep almost immediately. When he got up he could not see his bag of caps.

He was very worried. He looked around. Then he saw his empty bag lying nearby. The cap seller thought, "Where are the caps? If my bag is here, then my caps must be here too."
Suddenly, he felt as if many eyes were watching him. He looked up and was very surprised.

There were many monkeys on the tree and they were all wearing his caps on their heads.

The cap seller wanted his caps. So he shouted at the monkeys, but they did not move at all.

The poor cap seller became worried. If he didn't back his caps, he would lose a lot of money.

So he tried shaking the tree, but the monkeys kept sitting there. The cap seller was already very tired, but he did not give up. He decided to use his intelligence to find a way out.

He sat down to test, and started thinking of ways to get back the caps from the monkeys.

He thought, "What do I know about monkeys? I know that they eat bananas but I don't have bananas with me."

Then, suddenly an idea came to his mind. He knew that monkeys after did what they saw others doing.

They loved to imitate others. So the cap seller got up and stood in a place where he could see all the monkeys and the monkeys could see him.

Then the cap seller brought his hand over his head and caught his own cap.

He threw his cap on the ground. At once, all the copycat monkeys too threw their caps on the ground.

Quickly, the cap seller picked up his caps and ran away from there.

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."

THE WINNING LIE

The king liked Sheikh because he found him very simple, but his son, the prince, did not like him at all.

One day the prince decleared that he would have a competition to find out who could tell the biggest lie.

Many people came and told lies but the prince would say, "This is not a lie. This can happen."

One person lied, "I have seen ants as big as elephants."

Another quipped, "I have a watermelon plant growing inside me because I ate the seeds of a watermelon."

"But that could happen, so that is not a lie," denied the prince.

When all the liars had been sent away, Sheikh Chilli requested, "May I speak, My Lord?"

"Yes, you may. So what does your little brain say?" asked the prince.

"It says that you are the biggest fool and you should not be made the king," declared Sheikh loudly and firmly.

Everyone was shocked. The prince shouted, "Arrest Sheikh."

Then Sheikh said, "My Lord, you wanted to hear a lie and this is the biggest lie." Now the prince could not say anything to Sheikh.

Everyone started laughing and the prize money was given to Sheikh Chilli.

The qutab minar

In Delhi, Sheikh went to see the Qutb Minar.

All the people standing there were looking up to see the very tall pillar like tower.

A man told them that King Qutbuddin had made this very tall tower called Qutab Minar.

It was made so that a priest could go on top of the building and shout out to the people of Delhi that it was time for prayers which they called 'aazaan'.

One person looking at the tall tower of the Qutab Minar wondered, "There were no cranes and machines. Then how did they construct this building?"

Another man started joking and said, "The people then must have been huge giants, so they made this tall tower easily. The giants would have carried the pillars and placed them one on the other. They must have built the Minar this way."

A third man laughed and joined in the fun, saying, "I think I know. They must have made the Qutab Minar flat on the ground and then straightened it."

But then Sheikh said very seriously, "I know how it was made. They must have dug a deep well and then turned it upside down" All the people burst out laughing at his stupidity.

The taj mahal

Sheikh went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. he loved the white marble monument.

Some people told him that the Taj Mahal was ordered to be made by Emperor Shahjahan in memory of his beautiful wife MUMTAZ Mahal.

It had a dome in the middle and four towers on the corners. The River Yamuna flowed behind it.

Sheikh went inside the lovely monument and saw the wonderful hall, full of people who had come to see the Taj Majhal. He saw the two graves of the Emperor Shahjahan and the Emperess Mumtaz Mahal.

He walked around for some more time and then feeling tired he sat down to relax in the beautiful lawns in front of the Taj Majal

Nearby, two drunk men were talking and Sheikh Chilli overheard their conversation.

One drunk said, "I can give only twenty thousand rupees for the Taj Mahal. Not a rupee more because it is such an old building."

"But I am ready to pay even thirty thousand rupees. It is old but beautiful, replied the other.

Thinking that Taj Mahal was really up for sale and wanting to buy it for himself, Sheikh decided to trick the drunk men.

Sheikh walked up to them and pretending to know nothing about their quarrel, he asked them, "Why are you two fighting? Can I be of any help?"

The drunk men repeated their quarrel in front of Sheikh and told him to decide who should buy the Taj.

Sheikh said, "But none of you can actually buy the Taj Mahal because I am not ready to sell it. I own it."

Feeling pleased with his intelligence, Sheikh walked away. He heard the first drunk say, "So he is the owner of the Taj Mahal.

The other said, "You talked so loudly that is why the owner heard us."

"Yes, what a big loss we both have suffered by not being able to buy the Taj Majal," said the first man.

Sheikh laughed at their foolishness and began looking for the person who owned the Taj so that he could buy it from him!

ON A TRAIN AGAIN

Sheikh had been on a train when he was four years old but he did not remember the journey. After that he had never been on a train.

Once he had to go to another city and he thought that he would go by train. In those days, trains had three types of ticket fares-the first class, the second class and the cheapest was the third class.

Sheikh reached the station but did not know what to do. He asked a man who told him that he should buy a ticket first.

Sheikh asked, "What does the train look like?"

The man said, "It is big and black in colour and smoke comes out from it."

Sheikh went to buy a ticket for Delhi. He asked for a ticket and the man replied, "Give me five rupees."

Sheikh shouted, "That is too much. Take less money."

"Does this train belong to your father-in-law that you can pay less than the ticket fare?" replied the man angrily.

Just as Sheikh bought the ticket, he saw a big and tall ticket checker wearing a black coat and smoke was coming out from his cigarette. Sheikh ran and climbed onto his back.

"What are you doing?" shouted the ticket checker.

"Come on, train. Take me to Delhi station," yelled Sheikh jumped up and down on his back.

The ticket checker got very angry and made Sheikh get off his back with the help of other people. Then Sheikh was led to his train.

After that Sheikh sat in the train and as the train started moving, he began to enjoy himself watching the beautiful scenery outside.

But then another ticket checker came. He asked for his train ticket.

Sheikh gave him his ticket and the checker said, "You will have to pay more money."

"Why?" asked Sheikh.

"You are sitting in the first class but your ticket is for the third class," explained the ticket checker.

"What is the difference between them that you are charging so much extra money?" asked Sheikh.

"The first class seats have cushions but the third class bogie seats are wooden benches," said the ticket checker.

Sheikh stood up and declared. "I don't need cushions."

Then he tore away the cushions from the seat.

Sheikh said," I have taken out the cushions. Now I can sit here in the first class with the same third class ticket."

But the ticket checker would not agree. He told Sheikh that he would either have to go to the third class compartment of the train or pay more to sit in the first class.

Sheikh said loudly, "I will not pay any more money."

The ticket checker shouted, "You have damaged the seat. You will also have to pay damages."

"What cheats you all are! First you take so much money for the ticket and then you don't let us sir where we want. I will not give a single paisa," yelled Sheikh,

As soon as the train slowed down, a passenger informed them, "I think the next station is coming,"

The ticket checker waited for the train to stop. Then he called the railway police and told them about Sheikh.

The policemen took Sheikh out of the first class and made him sit in the third class.

ANOTHER THIEF

Sheikh was not worried at all when everyone kept talking that in the kingdom there was a thief who was looting everyone.

Sheikh had earned good money but he spent so much that he had little left with him.

So he was not afraid that any thief would come to rob him because there was nothing with him worth robbing.

One night, Sheikh started feeling uneasy. He went to the terrace to walk a little before he slept.

As he walked, he started thinking about his parents. His father had died a lomg time back and his mother too had died.

He remembered how lowing his mother had been. His carefree childhood days come back to him.

His eyes filled with tears as he thought of her.

Then he started thinking of something he had loved doing during his childhood.

He had loved flying kites and now he started dreaming that he flying a kite and he was shouting to the kite, "Go up, and up."

And sheikh fell down from the terrace. While dreaming he fell over the terrace parapet, onto the ground, right on top of a thief. The thief screamed, "Ooooh!''

Sheikh did not know that the man was a thief. He got up quickly because he could feel that a man was under him who was screaming, "Oh! I am hurt very badly."

Sheikh asked the man on whom he had fallen, "Where are you hurt? Tell me."

As soon as he heard someone speaking, the man remembered that he was a thief. He started running to escape from Sheikh.

Just then the neighbours came over because they had heard Sheikh screaming.

When they saw a man running away from Sheikh, they caught him.

Then they took the man to the court and found that he was the thief who was responsible for so many robberies.

Everyone praised Sheikh for catching the thief. A neighbour took Shiekh to the king and said, "My Lord, Sheikh chilli is so brave that he jumped from the terrace to catch this thief."

The king praised his courage, "Well done Sheikh! From today onwards your full expenses will be borne by me."

Sheikh was really happy as just falling from the terrace had solved all his money problems.

DHEIKH HUNTS A TIGER

Sheikh got a job in the court of a king who ruled a small kingdom. Sheikh was now thought to be a very respectable person.

One day the king was going to be forest to hunt.

Sheikh suggested, "I want to come with you, My Lord."

"What will you do there, Sheikh?"Asked the king.

"I want a chance to show you how good I am at hunting, "said sheikh.

Hunting in those days was done by sitting on wooden platforms made on the trees and waiting for the tiger to come. They would tie a goal below so that the tiger would come to eat it.

Sheikh accompanied the king to the forest.

The king and his nobles' sat on one tree platform and Sheikh sat with another counter on the other Machaan as they were called.

Sheikh did not like it. He cribbed, "What kind of hunting is this? We are sitting and waiting for the pool animal. We should be going like an army with our guns straight, looking the tiger in the eye. There he comes. He is looking at me and I am looking at him.'

He continued dreamily, "I am not afraid at all and I will kill him and the world will praise me for being a very brave man."

While he was talking, a real tiger had walked up to eat the goat but sheikh was not aware of it.

Deep in his dreams, he said, "There you tiger, now I will finish you."Dhhhaaaam.

The gun roared. Sheikh had actually pressed the trigger without knowing it. The bullet hit the tiger, who died. The others did not know that sheikh had fired the shot accidently while dreaming.

The courtier with him praised him, "That was wonderful sheikh. You hit the tiger."

The king came and applauded, "I thought that I was good at hunting but you, Sheikh are better than me. That was a wonderful shot."

Sheikh looked confused for he could    not believe that he had killed the tiger. When sheikh realized that he enjoyed actually killed relished that he actually killed a tiger, he enjoyed everyone's praise. The king rewarded sheikh chilli but sheikh never understood how he had killed the tiger.

The king came and applauded, "I thought that I was good at hunting but you, sheikh are better than me. That was a wonderful shot."

Sheikh looked confused for he could not believe that he had killed the tiger. When sheikh realized that he had he had actually killed a tiger, he enjoyed sheikh chilli but sheikh never understood how he had killed the tiger.

AS A GUEST

Sheikh's wife Fawzia was very worried. She told sheikh, "Both Mother and I are going away. I don't think we should leave you alone in the house,"

"I can look after myself." asserted Sheikh.

"Last time you nearly put the house on fire when you were alone, "reminded Fawzia.

"That is no problem. Irfan often used to stay with us for a long time. I can stay there for a mouth, 'answered Sheikh Chilli.

So Sheikh went to his cousin irfan's house that lived with his wife and two children.

Irfan was very happy to see but his wife was not so pleased.

For the first week she was quiet but after that she wanted sheikh to go away.

So o9ne evening when Irfan returned with sheikhs from the shop, she told them that she had to go as her farther was sick.

Irfan said, "I think we four should go to see him. What will you do sheikhs?

Sheikh answered, "i hope your father gets well soon. You don't worry about the house. I will look after it. I will stay here."

Irfan's wife interrupted him, "But how will you stay here as there is nothing to eat in the house? I had locked the kitchen and now I can't find the keys."

Sheikh could not dream of staying without eating, so he replied, "Then tomorrow morning I will go away. In the night I will think about which neighbors' hose I should go to."

Irfan's wife had actually hidden the key of the kitchen in her room.

The family went away and Sheikh's was to leave the next morning. But sheikh was very hungry the morning. He decided to look for the missing keys.

In the meantime when Irfan reached his in-law's house and found that his father-in-law was well, he got angry with his wife for telling a lie.

Next morning he made his family return home.

They came back to see that sheikh was still there.Sheikh welcomed them and them that he had not gone because he had found the kitchen keys and now he could cook plenty of food to eat. Irfan's wife was dismayed.

Sheikh continued staying with them.

For a week, Irfan's wife kept quiet, but sheikh did not go back to his house.

Then one day she started groaning and shouting that she had a stomach ache.

She told Sheikh, "This pain is like the pain you told me your mother had Can you get me the medicine from your village?"

"Yes, I will get you the medicine," replied Sheikh at once.

Irfan's wife apologised, "I am sorry for giving you this trouble. Your house is so far away,"

"That doesn't matter. I will bring the medicine, "said shekih.

She refused, "No. You live so far away. It will be too much for you. So you tell the doctor to give the medicine and I will send someone to fetch it."

Sheikh said, "I wool go in the morning because in the night might lose my way."

But in the night Sheikh had a bad dream.

Sheikh dreamt that a lion was chasing him. As he tried to save himself, he fell of his bed.

In the morning Irfan came and saw that sheikh was not there. He shouted too his wife, "Sheikh has gone." His wife came running happily.

Irfan said, "It seems that sheikh went away early in the morning."

"That is really wonderful, "Yelled his wife jubilantly.

"See how much he cared for you. He has gone for your medicine, "Irfan pointed out.

"I told him not to come back because his village is so far, "She said.

"Then how will you get your medicine?"' asked Irfan.

"I don't need the medicine, "she replied.

"But you had a stomach ache," interrupted Irfan.

"I am not sick," she declared.

Sheikh got up suddenly from under the bed and spoke up. "And I haven't really gone."

"What!" exclaimed Irfan's wife?

"It good that I didn't go this morning as you are not sick. Now can I have my breakfast please?" asked Sheikh.

Irfan's wife could not say anything. She just looked at shield and nodded her head wordlessly.

Then helplessly, she burst out crying as Sheikh added, "Please I need to have a heavy breakfast as I am very hungry."