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T h e r e o n c e liv e d a d o g in a vil l a g e. H e w a s a l w a y s h u n g r y a n d l o o kin g f o r f o o d. T h e d o g w a s a l s o v e r y g r e e d y a n d w a s n e v e r s a tis fie d wit h w h a t h e h a d o r g o t. T h e d o g k e p t w a n d e rin g e v e r y w h e r e, s e a r c hin g f o r f o o d, a n d c o u l d n e v e r g e t c o n t e n t. Each time the dog got food, h e w o u l d p r o mis e him s e l f t h a t h e w o u l d b e h a p p y wit h w h a t h e h a d a n d n o t c r a v e it a n y m o r e. B u t wit hin a f e w s e c o n d s, h e w o u l d f o r g e t t h e p r o mis e a n d t r y t o l o o k f o r m o r e f o o d o r g r a b it f r o m a n o t h e r a nim a l. 5 0
One day he was wandering and searching for food as usual. A river flowed by his house and a bridge was there to help everyone cross to the other side. He decided to cross the bridge by his house and look for food on the other side. He looked all around but could not find anything. Suddenly, he spotted a bone lying outside a small hut. The bone was big and juicy, and he ran to grab it, and held it tightly in his mouth. He thought he would cross the bridge and eat it at leisure at home. He was afraid that if any of his friends or other animals spotted the bone, they would also want a share of it. He wanted to devour it all by himself. 51
As he was crossing the bridge to go home, he saw another dog holding a bone in its mouth. He noticed that the bone looked as juicy and big as the one he had. He began to think about how lucky he would be if he got that bone to eat too. He started thinking of ways to get the other bone from the dog in the river. He barked at the dog, assuming the other dog would immediately throw the bone. The moment he barked, the bone in his mouth fell into the water. He also fell into the water in surprise, and flowed away, till he was able to get onto dry land. He then realised that the dog he saw was not another dog but his own reflection. He regretted his action and realised it was a big mistake to be greedy. 52
He had to return home without a bone and nothing to eat. He realised he had paid a heavy price for his greed. He learned his lesson and promised himself he would no longer be greedy. Moral Value: We should not be greedy 53
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Long ago in Italy there lived on old clockmaker named Geppetto. Tick-tick-TOCK! Tick-tick-TOCK! went all the clocks in his shop. When he worked, Geppetto felt happy. But when he rested, a sad feeling came over him. “Ah!” he would think. “All my life and no child to call my own!” So, one day Geppetto carved a puppet from wood in the shape of a boy. He made the arms and legs of the puppet so they could move. He cut and sewed a nice outfit for it, as if it were a real boy. "I will call you Pinocchio, " said Geppetto. That night, Geppetto lay the wooden puppet down onto the bed. 55
From out of the window, a big star twinkled bright. Geppetto looked out the window to the twinkling star. “Bright star, ” said Geppetto. “If I could make one wish, it would be for a real boy of my own.” But of course, he knew that was not possible. That night, the same big star swooshed right into Geppetto’s room. It changed into a Blue Fairy! The Blue Fairy flew over to the bed. “Little wooden puppet, ” said the Blue Fairy. “In the morning, you will be able to walk and talk like a real boy.” She tapped the puppet one time with her wand. “And if someday you can prove that you are brave and true, you may become a real boy.” Pinocchio’s eyes opened. 56
“One more thing, ” said the Blue Fairy. Suddenly. a cricket appeared. He was dressed mighty fine -and could talk! “Meet the Cricket" , said the Blue Fairy. He will stay with you to help you make wise choices.” And with that, the Blue Fairy went swoosh and was gone! Out of the window and up into the night sky. When Geppetto woke up the next morning, he said, “I will go take my puppet out of bed.” But the bed was empty! 57
“ H e r e I a m, F a t h e r!” s aid Pin o c c hio f r o m t h e o t h e r sid e o f t h e r o o m. Geppetto swung arou n d. “ W h a t ? Y o u c a n t a l k ? ” “ Y e p! I a m Pin o c c hio, y o u r b o y!” “ H o w c a n t his b e ? ” s aid G e p p e t t o in shock. Then he said, “But who cares?” He rushed over and swept the wooden puppet into his arms. “Pinocchio, my son!” he said in great happiness. 5 8
One day Pinocchio said, “I want to go to school, like other boys.” “Of course, ” said Geppetto. But he did not have the money to buy schoolbooks. Later that day, Geppetto came back home with schoolbooks. “Now you can go to school, ” he said. “But Father, where is your warm coat?” With a wave of his hand Geppetto said, “No need to worry about that. What matters is that you will go to school tomorrow!” He did not want Pinocchio to know he had traded his warm coat to buy the schoolbooks. 59
The next morning, Pinocchio said good-bye to Geppetto. He skipped along the path to school, humming as he went. The Cricket rode on his shoulder, happy, too. Coming up to them on the path was a Fox and a Cat. “And where are you going on this fine day?” said the Fox. “I am going to school!” said Pinocchio. “On such a fine day as this?” said the Fox. “It is too nice to be stuck inside school! You should come with us, to the fair.” “Listen to me, ” said the Fox. He put his arm around Pinocchio’s shoulder. “Anything you need to know, you can learn at the fair.” 60
“Really?” said Pinocchio. “Take it from me, ” said the Fox. “Pinocchio!" said the Cricket. "He does not know what he is talking about!” The Fox covered the Cricket with his hat. No one could hear the little fellow as the Cricket tried to call out, “Pinocchio, do not listen to him!” “Okay!” said Pinocchio. "Let's go to the fair!" And off they went. What a fair it was! By the gate was a man dressed in white. He called out, “Come in, come in! Right this way! Get your tickets here!” With a sad look Pinocchio said to the Fox and Cat, “I do not have any tickets.” A man was selling old things at a table near the gate. He called, “Hey, you! Sell me those new schoolbooks of yours! That is how you can get money for tickets.” The fair was so bright and colorful and exciting, that the next thing Pinocchio knew he had sold his schoolbooks for tickets. “No, Pinocchio, stop!” called the Cricket, who finally got out from under the Fox’s hat. But Pinocchio, the Fox and the Cat did not hear him. They were already inside the fair. 61
On stage was a puppet show! “I am a puppet, too!" said Pinocchio. "I can dance like that!” He jumped right onto the stage and started to dance with the other puppets. “Look at that new puppet!” someone called. “It has no strings!” “No strings?” said another. “Amazing!” Everyone laughed and laughed. They threw coins on the stage. The man who ran the fair saw coins fly onto the stage. “Well, now!” he said, rubbing his chin. “This puppet with no strings will make me rich!” The next thing Pinocchio knew, he was picked up and thrown in a birdcage. In the next moment, the door was locked shut. 62
“Hey, get me out!” called Pinocchio. But the person who had thrown him in just left the room. Only the Cricket heard Pinocchio's calls. The Cricket ran back and forth, in and out of the birdcage, trying to find a way to free the lock. But he could not unlock it. “I am stuck!” cried Pinocchio. "How did this happen to me?" All of a sudden, poof! There was the Blue Fairy. “Please!” said Pinocchio. “Can you help me?” “Tell me something first, ” said the Blue Fairy. “How did you get inside that cage?” “Tell her what happened, ” said the Cricket. Could he really tell the Blue Fairy what had happened? What would she think of him? 63
“Um, I was robbed, ” said Pinocchio. “Is that right?” said the Blue Fairy with a frown. Pinocchio’s nose began to grow. “Yes, robbed!” said Pinocchio. “By two mean men – no, four!” The nose grew more. “They took my books. They made me come here. And they threw me into this cage!” His nose grew longer and longer. Until Pinocchio could see nothing in front of his face but one big giant nose. “Why is my nose so big?” Pinocchio cried out. “Pinocchio!” said the Blue Fairy in a stern voice. “You must know what the truth really is.” 64
“I guess so, ” said Pinocchio. “I wanted to come to the fair. I came here with a Fox and the Cat.” The nose grew shorter. “I had to sell my books to get some tickets.” “Had to?” said the Blue Fairy. “I mean, I decided to sell my books to get tickets, ” he said. The nose got shorter still. “Then someone put me in this cage, ” he said. The nose was back to normal. “Good job, Pinocchio!” said the Cricket. “Well done, ” said the Blue Fairy. “Now I will get you out of here.” With a wave of her wand, Pinocchio was out of the cage. “Here are your books.” And Pinocchio was holding the same new schoolbooks in his hands again. “Know this, ” said the Blue Fairy, “you are on your own from now on. Make sure you do the right thing next time.” And she was gone. 65
Pinocchio was back on the road to school. A Coachman drove up. “Hey kid, how about a ride?” “No, thank you, ” said Pinocchio. “I am going to school.” “You will ride faster with me, ” said the Coachman to Pinocchio. He said to himself, “He will ride faster all right, but not to where he thinks he is going!” "Alright, " said Pinocchio. "I want to get to school right away!" When Pinocchio was inside the coach, the Coachman said, “Say kid, why do you think boys like you go to school?” “To learn things, ” said Pinocchio. “And to grow up, I guess. So we can do what we want.” “Well, ” said the Coachman, “what if I told you that could do what you wanted, right now?” “Right now?” “Yep! Think of it. Skip the books. Skip the school. Right now, how would you like to have all the candy you can eat!" "All the candy?" "Yep. Ice cream, too. Of every flavor. Ever want to smoke a cigar or play pool? All this and more, at Pleasure Island.” “Pleasure Island?” “Best place in the world for boys like you!” “Don’t listen to him, Pinocchio!” shouted the Cricket. “Why wait?” said the Coachman. “I know just where Pleasure Island is. This is your lucky day, kid. So what do you say?” “Let’s go there!” said Pinocchio. “I’m going to Pleasure Island!” “Augh!” said the Cricket, waving his arms in the air. 66
After a while, the coach stopped. “You got a boy with you in that coach?” said a dark stranger to the Coachman. “Yep.” The Coachman grabbed Pinocchio and threw him down onto the ground. “He’s all yours. Now pay up.” The Coachman reached out for something (was it money?) from the dark stranger. Then the Coachman drove off. What could it all mean? But as Pinocchio looked around, he no longer cared. For everything the Coachman had told him was true! Heaps of candy all about. Tubs of ice cream in every flavor. Boys like him could eat and eat, and play all day. None of them had to work or clean up. There were even cigars if you wanted one, and pool tables to play. But after a few days, something was odd. “Where did all the boys go?” he asked the Cricket. 67
“All I see now are donkeys, ” said Pinocchio. “I must say, there used to be more boys around here, ” said the Cricket. Just then, one of his ears popped into a donkey ear. Then his other ear popped into a donkey ear, too. “Oh!” cried the Cricket. “What is happening to you?” “I don’t know - HONK!” said Pinocchio Pinocchio and the Cricket saw a line of donkeys led by a dark stranger onto a truck. “Oh, no!” said the Cricket. “Now I get it! Boys get turned into donkeys here. Then the donkeys are sold! Pinocchio, we have to get you out of here, fast - while we still can!” “Let’s go – HONK!” said Pinocchio. His two feet had popped into four. “Run, quick!” said the Cricket. One good thing about Pinocchio’s new four legs is he could run very fast! Quick, quick, they ran out of Pleasure Island. Soon they were at a dock by the ocean. 68
“Please sir!” Pinocchio called out to a man by the dock. “I am looking for an old man named Geppetto. Do you know him? – HONK!” “Sounds like you are getting a bad cold, ” said the man. “Hmm, Geppetto. That’s the old man whose son left one morning and did not come back. He went out on a boat to look for him. No one has seen the poor fellow since.” “Oh no! This is all my fault – HONK!” said Pinocchio. “I must look for my father!” Pinocchio jumped off of the dock into the ocean. The Cricket jumped in too, close behind. Most of Pinocchio was still made of wood, so he could float on the ocean. “Father!” he called out, paddling the water with his arms. “Father!” but there was no answer. All Pinocchio could see around him was blue water, everywhere. Until – what was that, far away? Something was rushing up. Something big, and very fast! 69
“Father, Father, it’s me!” said Pinocchio. “My son!” said Geppetto. “I thought I was dreaming!” They hugged in joy. “Look!” said Geppetto as three fish swam by. “There goes our dinner!” “Father, I have an idea! Let’s make a fire.” “Grilled fish tonight!” said Geppetto. In a moment, a giant whale was upon them. It opened its giant jaws and with one gulp, swallowed Pinocchio! Rushing inside with all the sea water tumbled Pinocchio and the Cricket. When they came to a stop, they saw that they were in the dark belly of the whale. “Are you okay?” said Pinocchio to the Cricket. “I am fine, ” said a voice of an old man. “Wait a minute, ” said Pinocchio. “Father, is that you?” There was Geppetto! 70
“No, I mean for us to get out!” said Pinocchio. He gathered driftwood and got a flame going. “This is how we can make the whale sneeze!” he said. Pinocchio waved his arms over the flame to make a lot of smoke. Soon, clouds of black smoke were rising up. The whale gave a cough. “Hang on!” said Pinocchio. And then… WHAM!! In one big sneeze, Pinocchio, Geppetto and the Cricket flew out of the whale’s mouth. Rolling over and over in the sea water, at last they rolled up onto the shore. “Pinocchio?” Geppetto rose to his feet. The Cricket was there beside him. But where was Pinocchio? And then they found him! Pinocchio was face down, his head in a puddle. “Pinocchio!” They were too late. Geppetto and the Cricket wept over Pinocchio, the boy puppet, who lay still in the water. Then in a flash, who was there but the Blue Fairy! “Pinocchio, ” she said. “You saved your father. You proved that you are both brave and true.” She tapped his head with her wand. “And now you will be a real boy.” 72
Pinocchio woke up. He looked at his soft arms and soft legs. “Father!” he cried out. “Look! I am a real boy!” “That you are!” cried Geppetto. The Blue Fairy turned to the Cricket. “Come, ” she said. In a flash, the two of them were gone. And they lived many long and happy years together. Moral Value: 1.No matter how many mistakes you make, it is never too late to do the right thing. 2. we can't lie and have to tell the truth THE END 73
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It was a hot summer afternoon. The crow was very thirsty he flew here and there in search of water, but he couldn't find water anywhere. As he looked around, all the lakes were dry. He could not see even a drop of water. The crow decided to fly in another direction. As he flew a mile, He saw a pot lying on the ground. The crow happily flew down to the pot and peaked in with great hope but the water was at the bottom of the pot. The thirty crow tried hard to put his beak inside the pot but could not reach the water. 75
The water in the pot was very low. He tried to move the pot but it was heavy. He could not even tilt the pot alone. The crow began thinking of ways to get water from the pot. When he looked around, he saw a few stones lying on the ground suddenly he had an idea. 76
He started picking up stones in his beak one by one and dropped them in the pot. As the stones went down the pot, the water level started to rise. Now the crow was able to drink water. He drank the water happily and flew back to his tree. Moral Value: If we have willingness and determination, anything can be achieved. 77
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Once upon a time, there was a rose that was very proud of her beautiful look. The only disappointment was that the rose grew next to an ugly cactus. Every day the rose would insult the cactus on his looks, but the cactus stayed quiet. 79
All the other plants and trees around the rose tried to stop it from bulling the cactus. But the rose was too swayed by its beauty to listen to anyone. Spring passed; summer came. There was no rain, the garden dried up and there was no water for the plants. 80
The rose slowly began to lose its beautiful colour and started to wilt. Rose saw a sparrow dip its beak into the cactus and drank water from it. 81
The rose felt ashamed to ask help from the cactus, but finally, it did ask. The kind cactus agreed happily. The sparrows watered the rose. They both became friends and got through summer. Moral Value: Never judge anyone by their appearance. 82
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One day, a mother duck felt her eggs begin to shake. One by one, the eggs cracked open. Eight yellow ducklings poked out their heads. “Peep, peep, ” they said. “Quack, quack!” said Mother Duck. But one egg did not crack—one very big egg. Mother Duck sat on the big egg for a few more days. Finally, it cracked open. Out popped a big bird. “Oh!” said Mother Duck. “You do not look like my other ducklings, but I am your mother, and I love you.” 84
The little yellow ducklings made fun of the new bird.“You do not look like us, ” they said and “You are big and gray. You are an ugly duckling.” This made the new bird very sad. “You do not look like my other ducklings, ”said Mother Duck, “but I am your mother, And I love you”. The ugly duckling looked for someone to play with. He went to the farm pond. “Will you swim with me?” he asked. “No, ” said the ducklings. “You are too ugly.” “No, ” said the frogs and turtles. “You are an ugly duckling”. Then he tried the farmyard. “Will you play with me?” he asked. “No, no, ” said the horses. “You are too ugly.” “No, ” said the pigs, and they laughed at him. The sad, ugly duckling went back to the farm pond. “No one will play with me, ” he said to Mother Duck. “I am too ugly.” “You do not look like the other ducklings, ”said Mother Duck, “but I am your mother, and I love you.” But the ugly duckling was not happy. So he flew away. 85
Time passed, and the ugly duckling grew up.His wings were wider.His neck was longer.His feathers had turned white.He had changed, but he did not know it. Then one day, two big white birds flew over the pond.“What beautiful birds!” thought the ugly duckling. “I hope they stop to visit.I am lonely.” The birds flew lower and lower and landed int he pond with a splash. Hello, ” said the ugly duckling. “Who are you?” “We are swans, ” said the big white birds, “just like you.” “I am not a swan, ” said the ugly duckling .“I am an ugly duckling.” The swans laughed. “Look down at the water, ” they said. “What do you see?”. The ugly duckling looked down at the water. “You are right!” he cried. “I am a beautiful swan!”. The ugly duckling was very happy to be a beautiful swan. He flew off at once to visit the farm. “Hello, ” he said. “Do you remember me?” “No!” said the ducks. “No, no!” said the frogs and turtles. “We’ve never seen you before, ”sniffed the horses and pigs. 86
“I am the ugly duckling!” cried the swan. All the animals said, “You are too beautiful to be the ugly duckling.” “I grew up to be a beautiful swan, ”he said. All the animals were happy to be with such a beautiful bird. Then the swan saw Mother Duck.“Hello! I am your ugly duckling, ” he said. Mother Duck did not care if he was a duckling or a swan. She said, “You do not look like my other ducklings, but I am your mother, and I love you.” Moral Value: Don't treat people differently because they look different 87
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O n c e u p o n a tim e , t h e r e w a s a lit t l e gir l w h o liv e d in a vil l a g e n e a r t h e f o r e s t. W h e n e v e r s h e w e n t o u t , t h e lit t l e gir l w o r e a r e d ridin g c l o a k , s o e v e r y o n e in t h e vil l a g e c a l l e d h e r Lit t l e R e d Ridin g H o o d. One morning, Little Red Ridin g H o o d a s k e d h e r m o t h e r if s h e c o u l d g o t o visit h e r g r a n d m o t h e r a s it h a d b e e n a w hil e sin c e t h e y'd s e e n e a c h o t h e r. "That's a good idea," her mother said. So they packed a nice basket for Little Red Riding Hood to take to her grandmother. 8 9
When the basket was ready, the little girl put on her red cloak and kissed her mother goodbye. "Remember, go straight to Grandma's house, " her mother cautioned. "Don't dawdle along the way and please don't talk to strangers! The woods are dangerous." "Don't worry, mommy, " said Little Red Riding Hood, "I'll be careful." But when Little Red Riding Hood noticed some lovely flowers in the woods, she forgot her promise to her mother. She picked a few, watched the butterflies flit about for awhile, listened to the frogs croaking and then picked a few more. Little Red Riding Hood was enjoying the warm summer day so much, that she didn't notice a dark shadow approaching out of the forest behind her... Suddenly, the wolf appeared beside her. 90
"What are you doing out here, little girl?" the wolf asked in a voice as friendly as he could muster. "I'm on my way to see my Grandma who lives through the forest, near the brook, " Little Red Riding Hood replied. Then she realized how late she was and quickly excused herself, rushing down the path to her Grandma's house. The wolf, in the meantime, took a shortcut... The wolf, a little out of breath from running, arrived at Grandma's and knocked lightly at the door. "Oh thank goodness dear! Come in, come in! I was worried sick that something had happened to you in the forest, " said Grandma thinking that the knock was her granddaughter. 91
The wolf let himself in. Poor Granny did not have time to say another word, before the wolf gobbled her up! The wolf let out a satisfied burp, and then poked through Granny's wardrobe to find a nightgown that he liked. He added a frilly sleeping cap, and for good measure, dabbed some of Granny's perfume behind his pointy ears. A few minutes later, Red Riding Hood knocked on the door. The wolf jumped into bed and pulled the covers over his nose. "Who is it?" he called in a cackly voice. "It's me, Little Red Riding Hood." "Oh how lovely! Do come in, my dear, " croaked the wolf. 92
When Little Red Riding Hood entered the little cottage, she could scarcely recognize her Grandmother. "Grandmother! Your voice sounds so odd. Is something the matter?" she asked. "Oh, I just have touch of a cold, " squeaked the wolf adding a cough at the end to prove the point. "But Grandmother! What big ears you have, " said Little Red Riding Hood as she edged closer to the bed. "The better to hear you with, my dear, " replied the wolf. "But Grandmother! What big eyes you have, " said Little Red Riding Hood. "The better to see you with, my dear, " replied the wolf. "But Grandmother! What big teeth you have, " said Little Red Riding Hood her voice quivering slightly. "The better to eat you with, my dear, " roared the wolf and he leapt out of the bed and began to chase the little girl. 93
Almost too late, Little Red Riding Hood realized that the person in the bed was not her Grandmother, but a hungry wolf. She ran across the room and through the door, shouting, "Help! Wolf!" as loudly as she could. A woodsman who was chopping logs nearby heard her cry and ran towards the cottage as fast as he could. He grabbed the wolf and made him spit out the poor Grandmother who was a bit frazzled by the whole experience, but still in one piece. "Oh Grandma, I was so scared!" sobbed Little Red Riding Hood, "I'll never speak to strangers or dawdle in the forest again." "There, there, child. You've learned an important lesson. Thank goodness you shouted loud enough for this kind woodsman to hear you!" The woodsman knocked out the wolf and carried him deep into the forest where he wouldn't bother people any longer. Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother had a nice lunch and a long chat. Moral Value: Never talk to strangers 94
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One day, a little rabbit says to his mother, “There are a lot of mushrooms on the mountain slope. Let me pick some for you, all right?” The mother rabbit says, “It’s good that you want to help me. But remember, don’t go too far away.” “All right, Mother, ” says the little rabbit. He takes a small basket, and happily hops out of the house. There are a lot of mushrooms on the mountain slope. The little rabbit picks the mushrooms. Soon his basket is full of mushrooms. 96
Suddenly the little rabbit sees a big wolf nearby. He does not hove time to run away. He is very frightened. Then he has an idea. “Oooh!” screams the little rabbit “My stomach is so painful!” He keeps pressing his stomach. The wolf comes nearer to the little rabbit “What is happening to you?” asks the wolf. “I must have eaten some poisonous mushrooms, ” cries the little rabbit. “My stomach is very painful. 1 will die in a short while!”. The little rabbit rolls about on the ground. Then he closes his eyes and pretends to be dead. The wolf looks at the little rabbit. He thinks, “Rabbit meat is delicious. What a pity it is poisoned!” 97
The wolf sniffs at the little rabbit for a while. Then he goes away, leaving the little rabbit behind. When the wolf is far away, the little rabbit gets up quickly. He picks up his basket. He runs home as fast as he can. The little rabbit tells his mother about meeting the big wolf. He tells her what he has done to save himself. After listening to the little rabbit, the mother rabbit happily hugs him. “What a clever child you are!” she says proudly. Moral Value: We must think Smartly and Wisely. 98
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