The Story of Shibi Rana - The Eagle and the Dove
THERE was a certain king whose name was Shibi Rana, and his power was so great, and grew so rapidly, that the gods in high heaven began to tremble, lest he should take their kingdoms away from them....
View ArticleThe Story of Dhruva, A myth of the Pole star
The poetry of the world is full of the similes devised by poets to suggest the midnight sky. The great multitude of the stars shining and quivering, as it were, against the darkness, have been likened...
View ArticleThe Judgement-Seat of Vikramaditya
FOR many countries in Indian history there was no city so famous as the city of Ujjain. It was always renowned as the seat of learning. Here lived at one time the poet Kalidasa, one of the supreme...
View ArticlePrithvi Raj: Last of the Hindu Knights
Now in the days of the old Hindu knighthood of India, there were four great cities where strong kings lived, who claimed that between them they ruled the whole of the country. And some of these cities...
View ArticleThe Monkey and the Crocodile(panchatantra story)
Once upon a time, a clever monkey lived in a tree that bore juicy, red rose apples. He was very happy. One fine day, a crocodile swam up to that tree and told the monkey that he had travelled a long...
View ArticleThe Big Lion and the Little Rabbit(panchatantra story)
Once upon a time, there lived a big lion in a jungle. Every day he hunted and killed many animals to satisfy his hunger. The animals were worried that one day none of them would be left alive. They all...
View ArticleThe Stork and the Crab(panchatantra story)
Once upon a time, there was a stork who caught the fish in a particular tank. The stork always had a full meal. As the years went by, the stork grew older and weaker. His ability to catch fish...
View ArticleThe Crows and the Black Snake(panchatantra story)
Once upon a time a family of crows lived in a huge banyan tree. There was a Father Crow, a Mother Crow, and many baby crows. One day a huge snake came to live in the hole at the bottom of the tree. The...
View ArticleHow many Crows in the Kingdom(akbar and birbal story)
One day Emperor Akbar and Birbal were taking a walk in the palace gardens. It was a nice summer morning and there were plenty of crows happily playing around the pond. While watching the crows, a...
View ArticlePandit Sevaram(akbar and birbal story)
One day a Brahmin by the name of Sevaram asked Birbal for help. He said that his forefathers were great Sanskrit scholars and that people used to respectfully refer to them as Panditji. He said that he...
View ArticleThe Three Questions(akbar and birbal story)
King Akbar was very fond of Birbal. This made a certain courtier very jealous. Now this courtier always wanted to be chief minister, but this was not possible as Birbal filled that position. One day...
View ArticleThe Banyan Deer(Jataka Tales)
In a forest, on the outskirts of Benaras, there lived a beautiful golden deer. He was called King Banyan Deer and was the leader of a herd of five hundred deer. Not very far off, in the same forest was...
View ArticleThe Golden Goose(Jataka Tales)
Once upon a time there lived a queen in the city of Benaras. Her name was Khema and she was the wife of King Bahuputtaka, which means 'father of many sons'. One night, the Queen had a dream of a...
View ArticleThe Great - Hearted Monkey(Jataka tales)
In a forest glade, by the side of River Ganges, high on the mountains there lived about eighty thousand monkeys along with their giant monkey king. And by the side of the clear gushing water stood a...
View ArticleThe Story of the Merchant and the Genius(Arabian Nights Story)
Sire, there was once upon a time a merchant who possessed great wealth, in land and merchandise, as well as in ready money. He was obliged from time to time to take journeys to arrange his affairs. One...
View ArticleThe Story of the First Old Man and of the Hind(Arabian Nights Story)
I am now going to begin my story (said the old man), so please attend. This hind that you see with me is my wife. We have no children of our own, therefore I adopted the son of a favorite slave, and...
View ArticleThe Story of the Second Old Man, and of the Two Black Dogs(Arabian Nights Story)
Great prince of the genii, you must know that we are three brothers-- these two black dogs and myself. Our father died, leaving us each a thousand sequins. With this sum we all three took up the same...
View ArticleArabian Nights Introduction
The stories in the Fairy Books have generally been such as old women in country places tell to their grandchildren. Nobody knows how old they are, or who told them first. The children of Ham, Shem and...
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