wit and wisdom stories

In a thick bamboo jungle, two young pandas had started their new life. Both of them were very cute and chubby. They were born only a  few days  ago. Their mother had lovingly christened them Jackie and Mickey. Jackie and Mickey were pretty young and weak. They were not even big enough to take  care of  themselves. Therefore their  mother said , "Kids, you are growing now, you should be able to differentiate between a  friend and  a foe." "Mother, who are friends and foes?" asked Jackie and Mickey. "One who helps us and stands by us in all our odds is our friend. And one who harms us, kills innocent  animals and  birds, is our enemy. Do you understand anything?" asked their mother. "Yes mother, we do understand. We will maintain a safe  distance from  our enemies and not even let them come near us, "Jackie and Mickey assured their mother. "Good, my children. I was expecting the same understanding from both of you. Now I can leave you...

Once upon a time  there lived a  stone cutter  ,in a small village. All day long he worked hard, cutting the hard stones and making the shape which were needed by his customers. His hands were hard and his clothes were dirty. One day he went out to work on a big stone. It was very hard to  work and  the sun was very hot. After spending several hours cutting  the stone , he sat down in the shade and soon fell asleep. After sometime, he heard sound of somebody coming.  Walking  up he saw a long procession of people. There were many  soldiers  and attendants and in the middle, in a palanquin, carried by strong people at the king . How wonderful it must be to be the great king thought the stone  cutter  . How happy I would be if i were the king instead of a poor stone cutter. As he said these words, a strange thing happened. The stone cutter found himself dressed in silk clothes and shining jewels. His ha...

A mouse was having a very bad time. She could find  no food  at all. She looked here and there, but there was no food, and she grew very thin. At last the mouse found  a basket , full of corn. There was a small hole in the basket, and she crept in. She could just get through the hole. Then she began to eat the corn. Being  very hungry , she ate a  great deal , and went on eating and eating. She had grown very fat before she felt that she had had enough. When the mouse tried to climb out of the basket, she could not. She was  too fat  to  pass through  the hole. " How shall I climb out?" said the mouse. "oh, how shall I climb out?" Just then a rat came along, and he heard the mouse. "Mouse," said the rat, "if you want to climb out of the basket, you must wait till you have grown as thin as you were when you went in."

One fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, and went out to take a walk by herself in a wood; and when she came to a cool spring of water with a rose in the middle of it, she sat herself down to rest a while. Now she had a golden ball in her hand, which was her favourite plaything; and she was always tossing it up into the air, and catching it again as it fell. After a time she threw it up so high that she missed catching it as it fell; and the ball bounded away, and rolled along on the ground, until at last it fell down into the spring. The princess looked into the spring after her ball, but it was very deep, so deep that she could not see the bottom of it. She began to cry, and said, 'Alas! if I could only get my ball again, I would give all my fine clothes and jewels, and everything that I have in the world.' Whilst she was speaking, a frog put its head out of the water, and said, 'Princess, why do you weep so bitterly?' 'Alas!' said sh...

A man had a little dog, and he was very fond of it. He would pat its head, and take it on his knee, and talk to it. Then he would give it little bits of food from his own plate. A donkey looked in at the window and saw the man and the dog. "Why does he not make a pet of me?" said the donkey. "It is not fair. I work hard, and the dog only wags its tail, and barks, and jumps on its master's knee. It is not fair." Then the donkey said to himself, "If I do what the dog does, he may make a pet of me." So the donkey ran into the room. It brayed as loudly as it could. It wagged its tail so hard that it knocked over a jar on the table. Then it tried to jump on to its master's knee. The master thought the donkey was mad, and he shouted, "Help! Help!" Men came running in with sticks, and they beat the donkey till it ran out of the house, and they drove it back to the field. "I only did what the dog does," said the donkey," and yet th...

Over a river there was a very narrow bridge. One day a goat was crossing this bridge. Just at the middle of the bridge he met another goat. There was no room for them to pass.  "Go back," said one goat to the other, "there is no room for both of us". "Why should I go back?", said the other goat. "Why should not you go back?" " You must go back", said the first goat, "because I am stronger than you." "You are not stronger than I", said the second goat. "We will see about that", said the first goat, and he put down his horns to fight. "Stop!", said the second goat. " If we fight, we shall both fall into the river and be drowned. Instead I have a plan- I shall lie down, and you may walk over me." Then the wise goat lay down on the bridge, and the other goat walked lightly over him. So they passed each other, and went on their ways.

Once upon a time there lived a pauper and a banker. The first was as poor as the second was rich. So it was inevitable that the rich man will be happier than the pauper. But their natures were opposite, for the poor man was happy whereas the banker was not. The banker was annoyed of the fact that while he tossed and turned in his bed at night, the pauper slept peacefully and always awoke rested and full of energy. One day the banker could stand it no longer. He decided to find out why the pauper was a happy man inspite of his poverty. So he summoned him to his house and asked him his yearly income because he believed that happiness could only be measured in terms of wealth. "I don't count too well, nor do I really care. I live each day as it comes and never worry about the next." "Well, then, just tell me how much you earn in one day," insisted the rich man. "I earn what I need. And even that would be too much were it not for all the Sundays and holidays wh...

Aesop A miser sold all that he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by the side of an old wall and went to look at daily. One of his workmen  observed  his frequent visits to the spot and decided to watch his movements. He soon discovered the  secret of  the hidden  treasure , and digging down, came to the lump of gold, and stole it.  The Miser , on his next visit, found the hole empty and began to tear his hair and to make loud lamentations. A neighbor, seeing him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said, "Pray do not grieve so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold  is still  lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it." ***********

Aesop A shepherd-boy, who watched a flock of sheep near  a village , brought out the  villagers  three or four times by crying out, "Wolf! Wolf!" and when his neighbors came to help him, laughed at them for their pains. The Wolf , however, did truly come at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an agony of terror: "Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep"; but no one  paid any heed to his cries, nor rendered any  assistance . The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his leisure lacerated or destroyed the whole flock. There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks  the truth . ************

by Hans Christian Andersen  There is a legend that, once upon a time, a beautiful fairy, the Snow Queen, lived on the highest, most solitary peaks of the Alps. The mountain folk and shepherds climbed to the summits to admire her, and everyone fell head over heels in love with her. Every man would have given anything, including his life, to marry her. Indeed, their lives are just what they did give, for Fate had decided that no mortal would every marry the Snow  Queen. But in spite of that, many brave souls did their best to approach her, hoping always to persuade her. Each suitor was allowed to enter the great ice palace with the crystal roof, where the Queen's throne stood. But the second he declared his love and asked for her hand, thousands of goblins appeared to grasp him and push him over  the rocks , down into bottomless abysses. Without the slightest emotion, the Queen would watch the scene, her heart of ice unable to feel anything at all. The legend of the crys...

Once upon a time, in an  island  there lived all the feelings and  emotions  : Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to them that  the island  would sink! So all  constructed  boats and left. Except for Love. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment. When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help. Richness was passing by Love  in a boat . Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?" Richness answered, "Sorry Love, I can't. There is a lot of  gold and  silver  in my boat  and so there is no place here for you." Love next asked Vanity who was also  sailing by . Vanity was also ready with the same answer. "I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered. Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, take me along with you." "Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!", sadne...

A man hired an ass from another man. He paid him two shillings to lend him the ass for the day. It was a very hot day, and both men wanted to stand in the ass's shadow, so that they might be cool. But there was only room for one of them. "Go away," said the man who had hired the ass. "Go away! It is my shadow today. I have hired the ass."  " You hired the ass," said the owner," but you did not hire his shadow. It is my shadow." They went on, the hirer saying one thing and the owner saying the other. Then they began to fight, and while they were fighting one of them happened to hit the ass. Then the ass ran away. And it took its shadow with it !

A wolf  carried off a lamb.  The lamb  said, " I know you are going to eat me, but before you eat me I would like to hear you play the flute. I have heard that you can play the flute better than anyone else, even the shepherd himself." The wolf  was so pleased at this that he took out his flute and began to play. When he had done, the lamb insisted him to play once more and the wolf played again. The shepherd and  the dogs  heard the sound, and they came running up and fell on the wolf and the lamb was able to get back to the flock.

He had journeyed a long way, and was very tired. It seemed like a dream when he stood up after a  sleep  in  the field , and looked over the wall, and saw  the garden , and  the flowers , and  the children  playing all about. He looked at  the long  road behind him, at the dark wood and the barren hills; it was the world to which he belonged. He looked at the garden before him, at  the big  house, and the terrace, and the steps that led down to the smooth lawn—it was the world which belonged to the children. "Poor boy," said the elder child, "I will get you something to eat." "But where did he come from?" the gardener asked. "We do not know," the child   answered ; "but he is very hungry, and mother says we may give him some food." "I will take him some milk," said the little one; in one hand she carried a mug and with the other she pulled along her little broken cart. "But what is he called?" asked the garden...