The Seven Wise Men of Buneyr
on Apr 27, 2009 in Pakistan Seven men of Buneyr once left their native wilds for the purpose of seeking their fortunes. When evening came they all sat down under a tree to rest, when one of them said, "Let us count to see if we are all here." So he counted, "One, two, three, fo...

The Hypocritical Cat
on Apr 27, 2009 in Tibet In long-past times there was a chieftain of a company of mice who had a retinue of five hundred mice. And there was also a cat named Agnija. In his youth he had been wont to kill all the mice in the neighborhood of his dwelling place. But afterward,...

The Twelve Men of Gotham
on Apr 27, 2009 in England On a certain day there were twelve men of Gotham that went to fish, and some stood on dry land; and in going home one said to the other, "We have ventured wonderfully in wading. I pray God that none of us come home and be drowned.""Nay, marry," said...

The Flourishing Staff
on Apr 27, 2009 in Jewish One day a man who had left the faith of his fathers came to Rabbi Jehuda Ha-Chassid and intimated his ardent wish to do penance, but Rabbi Jehuda grew angry and sent him away."As little," he said, "as this staff in my hand will blossom and produce gr...

How the Kadambawa Men Counted Themselves
on Apr 27, 2009 in Sri Lanka Twelve Kadambawa men cut fence sticks, tied them into twelve bundles, then set them upright and leaned them together. Then one of the men said, "Are our men all here? We must count and see."So a man counted them, but he counted only eleven men, omitt...

The Woman Who Had No Shadow
on Apr 27, 2009 in Scandinavia Once there was a pastor's wife who was afraid to have children. Other women are concerned when they have no children, but she was constantly afraid that she could have children.One day she went to a wise woman, a wicked witch, and asked her what to d...

Tannhäuser
on Apr 27, 2009 in German Noble Tannhäuser, a German knight, had traveled through many lands. He even visited the beautiful women of the Mountain of Lady Venus, hoping to see what great miracles occurred there. After sojourning there for a while, with joy and contentment, hi...

Big Peter and Little Peter
on Apr 25, 2009 in Norway Once there were two brothers, both named Peter; the older one was called Big Peter, and the younger one Little Peter. When their father died, Big Peter took over the farm and found himself a wealthy wife. Little Peter, however, stayed at home with hi...

The Cat as Holy Man
on Apr 25, 2009 in Palestine A town cat, having destroyed almost all the mice and rats in the place, found itself forced, for lack of prey, to go into the fields and hunt for birds, mice, rats, and lizards. In this time of need it thought of the following ruse.It stayed away for...

The Cat and the Mice
on Apr 25, 2009 in Aesop There was once a house that was overrun with mice. A cat heard of this, and said to herself, "That's the place for me," and off she went and took up her quarters in the house, and caught the mice one by one and ate them.At last the mice could stand i...