The Donkey That Thought He Was Clever #ChildrenStoryBook

The Donkey That Thought He Was Clever

Once upon a time….a donkey thought he was clever. Every day, his master harnessed him to a cart loaded with goods. They always went the same way to the village: along a wide path through the wood, down a gentle slope into farmland, then along the river to the ford and over the plain to the village.

Since the route was always the same, the donkey’s master had got into the habit of having a snooze on top of the cart, while the donkey, who knew the way by heart, plodded on.

Feeling unwell one day, the man decided to risk sending the donkey by himself, with a load for urgent delivery. When the animal returned, he was given a double ration of oats as a reward.

“Since you’re so clever at remembering the way, “the man said. “I’m going to send you alone always, then I can do other jobs!” And from then on, in all kinds of weather, the donkey travelled to the village by himself. His master was delighted.

However, one morning, when the donkey reached the river, he decided to shorten his journey by wading across the water. But he entered the river at a deep spot, much deeper than the donkey expected, and he had to swim against the current.

Luckily, he was carrying a load of salt that day, and some of it dissolved in the water, easing the donkey’s load, so that he reached the other side without much difficulty. “I am clever,” said the donkey, pleased with himself. “I’ve found a short cut.”
Next day, the man loaded the cart with sponges, and the donkey set off as usual. When he arrived at the river, he again thought he would take the short cut, and entered the water as he had done the day before. But this time, the sponges soaked up the water and made the cart heavy, so that the poor animal could not keep his head above water. And in spite of all his efforts, the donkey that thought he was so clever, sank below the surface of the water together with his load.

Lesson: Be smart in dealing with others and your undertakings. Don’t pride yourself to be clever with what you’re doing when in fact, you don’t know the basic of the matter.

Read More

The Conference of The Mice #ChildrenStoryBook

The Conference of The Mice

Once upon a time…there was a large tabby cat which, from the minute she arrived at the farm, spread terror among the mice that lived in the cellar. Nobody dared to go outside for fear of falling into the clutches of the awful cat.

The fast-shrinking mouse colony decided to hold a conference to seek a way of stopping themselves from becoming extinct. Taking advantage of the cat’s absence one day, mice of all ages streamed into the conference room. And certain that they could solve the matter, each one put forward a suggestion, but none of the ideas were really practical.

“Let’s build an outsize trap,” one mouse suggested. When this idea was turned down, another said: “What about poisoning her?” But nobody knew of a poison that would kill cats. One young widow, whose husband had fallen prey to the ferocious cat, angrily proposed: “Let’s cut her claws and teeth, so she can do no more harm.” But the conference did not approve of the widow’s idea.
At last, one of the mice, wiser than the rest, scrambled to the top of the lantern that shone over the meeting. Waving a bell, he called for silence: “We’ll tie this bell to the cat’s tail, so we’ll always know where she is! We’ll have time to escape, and the slow and weaker mice will hear her coming and be able to hide!”

A round of hearty applause met the wise mouse’s words, and everyone congratulated him on his original idea.
“…We’ll tie it so tightly that it will never come off!”

“… She’ll never be able to sneak quietly up on us again! Why, the other day, she suddenly loomed up right in front of me! Just imagine….”

However, the wise mouse rang the bell again for silence. “We must decide who is going to tie the bell on the cat’s tail,” he said. There was not a sound in the room except for a faint murmur: “I can’t, because…”

“Not me!” “I’d do it willingly, but…” “Neither can I….” “Not me!” “Not me!”

Nobody was brave enough to come forward to put the plan into action, and the conference of the mice ended without any decision being made.

Lesson: It’s often very easy to have bright ideas, but putting them into practice is a more difficult matter…

Read More

The Boot in the Jungle #ChildrenStoryBook

The Boot in the Jungle

In a jungle where no man went, there lived many a wild beast. One day they came across a strange object. It was a man’s boot. They had never seen a thing like it before.

“I am sure it’s the shell of a fruit,” said the bear.

“Rubbish!” said the wolf. “Can’t you see that it’s a nest? Here is the hollow in which the bird lays its eggs.”

“How can you be so foolish!” said the goat pointing to the long laces. “Look here, these are roots. So obviously it’s a plant.
A duck was listening to their argument. It said, “I have been to a land where many men live and this thing you see is called a boot. Men wear such things on their feet.”

“You keep out of this,” said the quarrelsome bear. “What you say can’t be true. We have seen no such thing and so we can’t believe you.”

“Believe what you want to, but remember that you can’t know everything.”

Lesson: Many things that you cannot see do exist in the world.

Read More