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A trip to heaven

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One morning, a farmer found that some animal had broken into his farm in the night and had eaten some of the sugar canes he was growing. He decided to keep a watch. In the middle of the night, he went to his farm to make sure no animal had invaded the farm. To his surprise, he saw a white elephant busy eating the sugar canes. He ran after the elephant shouting. The elephant tried to flee. The farmer caught it by its tail. To his horror, he found the elephant rising off the ground. The jumbo was flying! The frightened farmer held on the tail of the flying elephant. The elephant landed in a garden above the clouds. The farmer recalled his grandmother talking about heaven. “This must be heaven,” he thought. He was delighted to see beautiful trees laden with juicy fruits. He started eating the fruits. He put some fruits in his pocket. He wanted to share them with his friends back on earth. When the elephant flew again, the farmer held its tail. The elephant flew down heading for the sugarc
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Monkeys on a fast

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One day, a group of monkeys in a banana grove decided to fast. “Fasting once in fifteen days is good for our health,” said a wise old monkey. All monkeys nodded their heads. “Let’s fast tomorrow,” said their leader. All monkeys agreed. Soon, the day of fasting arrived. All the monkeys closed their eyes and said a prayer. A little monkey opened a corner of his eye. There on the trees were bananas! Ripe bananas! The little fellow licked his lips. “No eating today, Chotu. We are fasting,” said his mother giving him a stern look. “I was wondering…” said Chotu. “What were you thinking of?” asked the mother impatiently. “I was thinking — to fast means not to eat, right?” said Chotu. “Yes?” said the mother. The whole troop was now alert. “But we can hold a banana in our hand, can’t we?” asked Chotu. “What did you say?” Mother glared at Chotu. “No eating. Only holding the banana in our hand,” added Chotu hastily. The troop gravely considered this suggestion. “Is there any harm?” asked Chotu hu
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Fresh fish sold here

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Nasruddin Hodja opened a shop to sell fish. To attract customers, he hung a slate on which he wrote: “FRESH FISH SOLD HERE.” Then he sat down in the shop, waiting for customers. A passerby stopped at the shop. He looked at the board and said, ”Why do you say ‘Fresh’? No one sells stale fish, do they? Hodja thanked him and rubbed off the word ‘fresh’. The board now read, “FISH SOLD HERE.” Another person who dropped in, looked at the board, and shook his head. “Here? Is it necessary to say ‘here’? The moment he sees fish, even a dimwit knows they are sold here.” Hodja thanked him and rubbed off the word ‘here.’ The board now read, “FISH SOLD.” A few minutes later the village school teacher stopped by. He looked at the board. “Sold? Of course, you have kept the fish to sell, not give to charity.” Hodja thanked him and rubbed off the word ‘sold.’ The board now read, “FISH.” Then he waited patiently for customers. The village wise man visited the shop. “I could smell fish from half a mile a
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Lost and found

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Ten pundits (holy men) went to the Ganga to take a dip in the river. They held each other’s hands as they took dips thrice. When they came up the third time, they were not holding hands. “Let’s make sure all of us have come out of the river safely,” said a pundit, “Everybody stand in line. I will count.” The other holy men liked the idea and lined up as the pundit took count, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9…” He stopped at 9 as the line came to an end. “Nine, only nine,” screamed one of the pundits. “Oh no, one of us has drowned in the river,” cried out another. “You move aside. Let me take the count. Everybody, stand in a line,” said the second pundit. He began counting. He too could count only 9 people. All the pundits started crying for their lost friend. A cap seller was watching the entire drama. He noticed that the man who did the counting had left himself out of the count. He offered to do the counting. But the holy men refused to take his help. “We are well read in scriptures. You a
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The Dangerous Helper

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In a dense forest, there was lake. All the animals used to drink water from the lake. The water of this lake was so sweet that many fish lived there for long time. In this lake there lived a crab. The crab’s best friend was a swan. That swan was in the same lake. They were happy in the company of each other. Their happiness lasted until one day a snake made its home near the lake. Every day the swan laid an egg. The snake would come and eat it up. “I have to find a way to save my eggs," thought the swan. One day, he went to the crab and said, “Please help me, dear friend. My eggs are under threat. That cruel snake eats all the eggs in the nest. What can I do?" The crab decided to help its best friend. The crab thought for a while. Then he said, “I have an idea. Let us catch some fish from this lake and scatter them from the snake’s house till the mongoose house." That mongoose lived in the nearby tree. Then, the crab and the swan caught some fish and dropped them from th
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The Cunning Bats

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Many years ago, the members of the jungle did not have any King. The animals said, “The lion must be the King of this jungle." While the birds said, “The Hawk must be the King." There were many discussions and debates, but no final decision could be taken. The bats were cunning. They approached the animal and said, “Since we too are animal, we would like our dear lion to be the King. He is surely the most powerful among us." And the animals thought that the bats were on their side. The bats then went to the birds. “Since we are birds, our dear Hawk must be made the King of this forest. He is so royal and dignified," they said. And the birds thought that the bats were on their side. A few days went by. One day the birds came to know that the cunning bats were not honest. They informed the animals about this. “So the bats think they are clever, let us teach them a good lesson," said the animals. So, the next day, the birds and the animals made peace with each oth
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The Bone in Throat

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Once upon a time, there was a lazy wolf living in a jungle. Near his house was a pond. Many animals came to the pond to drink water. The wolf was always in search of food. One day, he was sitting near the pond hoping to get something to eat. When suddenly he spotted a dead bull. “Aha! What a luck! Now I can eat all I want," he thought and his mouth strated watering. He began to eat the bull. A thought struck him, “if another beast comes this way he will ask for a share. I had better eat fast." ‘Grub! Grub! Grub! Grub1’ he chewed, faster and faster. In his haste, a piece of bone got stuck in his throat. “Ohh! Errk!" cried the wolf. He tried to bring it out of his mouth. He tried to cough it out but in vain. Next, he tried to swallow it down but he failed. “Ooh, the bone in throat hurts. What shall I do now?" thought the wolf. Suddenly he remembered that a crane lived on the nearby riverbank. The wolf went to the crane and pleaded, “My dear Crane! I have got a bone st
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