III. SHORT STORIES

The Crow and the Pitcher

            

          One day, a thirsty crow wanted some water to drink.  He looked and looked for a well.  He could not find any.  Then he saw a pitcher on the road.  There was some water at the bottom of the pitcher.  He could not reach the water.

         He sat down to think.  He thought and thought.  He saw some small stones beside the road. He smiled and said, “I know what to do.” He got the stones one by one.  He dropped them into the pitcher. With each stone that he dropped, the water rose a little higher.  Soon the water reached the brim or top of the pitcher.  He drank all the water he wanted.

Aesop’s Fable

The Lion and the Mouse

           A little mouse running up and down upon the lion awakened him.  The lion was about to eat the mouse, when the little mouse cried, “Forgive me this time.  Someday I may be able to help you.” The lion laughed at the idea of the mouse helping him.  He set the mouse free.

           A week later a group of hunters set a trap in the forest.  The lion was caught in a trap.  The hunters tied him to a tree and left to look for a cart to carry him.  The little mouse came and gnawed the rope.  The lion was set free.     

         The mouse said,   “Little friends may prove great friends.”

Aesop’s Fable

A Wise Judge

          A tired merchant entered a restaurant.

          “What do you want to eat, sir?” asked the waiter.

          “I have some bread with me.  Can you give three fried eggs to eat with the bread?” requested the merchant.

          The merchant seated himself at a table near the window and took out from his bag the bread.  In a short while, the three fried eggs were served to him.  While he was eating, he noticed the heavy clouds in the sky.

          “There’s going to be a heavy rain,” he said to himself.  “I must be on my way home before it falls.”

          He hurriedly finished his meal and, seeing a bus approaching, he hastened out just in time to catch the bus.  Sure enough, a heavy rain fell, but he was already on his way home.

          That evening as he was lying in his bed, he suddenly thought of the three fried eggs he ate at the restaurant.  He had forgotten to pay for them.  What would he do? The restaurant was very far from his home.  He couldn’t return that night to pay for the eggs.

           “Ah, I know.  I’ll pay for those eggs when I get a chance to visit the place next time,” he said to himself.

           Meanwhile, the restaurant owner was mad with the merchant.

          “A cheat !  He is a cheat.  Eating without paying! He is a very dishonest man,” said the restaurant owner again and again that day.

          Months passed by.  One day, he found himself in the town where he ate the three fried eggs.  He hurried to the restaurant and luckily he saw the same person there.

          “Good morning,” greeted the merchant.  “I came to pay for the three fried eggs I forgot to pay sometime ago.”

          “Ah, you are the man I’ve been waiting for.  You came and ate and didn’t pay for what you ate,” said the restaurant owner.

          “I’m sorry I forgot to pay you.  I was in a hurry to leave.  How much do I owe you for the three fried eggs?” asked the merchant.

          “Three  fried eggs indeed!” exclaimed the restaurant owner.  “If those eggs hatched, I would have three hens and if those hens had laid eggs and hatched them, I should have a big poultry farm by now. Pay me fifty pesos for those eggs,” demanded the restaurant owner.

          “Fifty pesos! I cannot pay fifty pesos for those three fried eggs,” said the merchant.

          “Then let us go to the judge to settle the matter.  I will accept no less than fifty pesos,” said the restaurant owner.

          “And I will pay no more than the price of three fried eggs,” said the merchant.

          So off to the town judge the two men went.  The restaurant owner presented the matter to him while the town judge listened well.

          After a short while, the judge called his messenger.

         “Get me some boiled rice,” he said to his messenger.

         The messenger left and when he returned he had one plate of boiled rice.

          “Now get me a hoe,” the judge said to his messenger.

          The messenger left to get a hoe.

          “Now follow me,” said the judge to the merchant and the restaurant owner.

          He led them to the backyard.  He dug up a portion of the yard and buried the boiled rice there.

          “Why did you bury the rice?” asked the merchant.

          “I want the rice to grow so that I can harvest something,” replied the judge.

         “That rice is cooked.  It will not grow,” said the restaurant owner.

         “The same thing is true with the fried eggs. They were cooked.  They would not hatch.  You wouldn’t expect a poultry farm to grow from fried eggs,” said the judge.

          The restaurant owner and the merchant looked at each other.  Neither of them said a word.

          The town judge said to the restaurant owner, “Tell him the price of the three fried eggs. That is all you should ask this man to pay. You must be happy to find an honest man who returned to you after a long, long time to pay his debt.”

          And to the merchant, the judge said, “Pay no more than the price of three fried eggs.”

          Both the restaurant owner and the merchant seemed pleased with the wisdom of the judge.

Adapted from Pathways to Reading

Equal Pay for Equal Work

           Two men with a bag of gold coins went to the cadi or judge.  They asked his help in solving their problem.

          "I am a woodchopper," said the first man.  "I chopped down twenty-eight donkey-loads of wood in exchange for this bag of gold.  This man offered to help to help me but he didn't do any work.  Now he claims that half the coins are his."

           "Certainly," said the second man.  "I'm your partner."

           "Partner!" the woodchopper exclaimed.  "Who does every blow at every tree? Who chopped the fallen trees, tied the wood in bundles, loaded them on the donkey, brought them to the customer's house, and unloaded them?  Who worked  all day long until all the woods were piled and tied in bundles? I did. You did nothing."

            "Is what this man say true?" asked the judge.

             "Look at it this way, judge.  I did all the grunting and groaning when the work was heavy.  I did all the complaining when the day grew hot and the donkey did not want to go where the woodchopper wanted it to."

              "What good was that?" the woodchopper asked angrily.  "Do you call that work?"

             "I saved your strength, time, and energy," replied his partner.  "If you had to do all those things yourself, it might have taken you a long time to finish your job.  I certainly should receive half the pay for I did half the work."

           "Yes," agreed the judge thoughtfully.  "You certainly should receive your fair share of the money."

           At this the woodchopper shouted angrily.

           The judge told him to be quiet.  He asked his guard to get a metal tray.  He got the bag of gold from the woodchopper.  He told his partner to hold the tray.

          The judge took a coin from the bag and dropped it on the metal tray.  The coin rang out loud and clear.  The woodchopper gritted his teeth at the sound but his partner grinned.

          "A pleasant sound, isn't it?"  said the judge.  "Here's another and another."

           One by one he let the coins drop with loud clangs on the metal tray.  The woodchopper's face became blacker and blacker.  The judge listened to the ring of each coin.  As each coin fell on the tray, the partner nodded happily.

           When the bag was half empty, the woodchopper asked for it from the judge.  But the judge shook his head and continued to take out the coin and drop each one loudly on the pile in the tray.

          "But your Honor," the woodchopper said.

           "Keep quiet," shouted the judge.  "Do not disturb the pleasant sounds."

          The partner kept nodding greedily.  He hoped to get a half share only and here the judge was dropping every coin in the bag into the tray.

          When the last coin had been dropped into the tray, the judge got all the coins in the tray and put them back into the bag.  Then he tossed it over to the woodchopper.

           "The money has now been equally divided," said the judge.  "You have received your fair share."

           The partner said, "But your Honor, I don't have any of it.  He has it all."

           "I said you should receive your fair share," replied the judge, "and  you have just received it.  you made the sound of the work while the woodchopper did the work.  Now, you have heard the sound of the coins while the woodchopper has received the money."

Adapted from Doorways to Reading

The Story of a Monkey

          One day, when a monkey was climbing a tree, he ran a thorn into his tail.  He tried to get it out, but he could not pull it.  So he went to a barber shop.

          “Friend Barber,” he said, “I have a thorn at the end of my tail.  Please pull it out and I will pay you.”

          The barber tried to pull the thorn with his razor, but in doing so he cut off the end of the tail. The monkey was very angry and said, “Barber, barber, either give me back my tail or give me your razor.”

          The barber could not put back the end of the monkey’s tail, so he gave him the razor.

          On the way home the monkey met an old woman who was cutting wood for fuel.  He said to her, “Grandmother, grandmother,  that is very hard wood. Use this razor and you will cut the wood easily.

         The old woman was very much pleased with the offer and began to cut the wood with the razor, but after using it for sometime, it was broken.  Then the monkey cried. “Grandmother, grandmother, you have broken my razor. You must give me a new one or else give me all your firewood.”

         The old woman could not get a new razor, so she gave him the firewood.

         The monkey took the bundle of wood and walked towards the town to sell them.  On his way, he saw another woman sitting beside the road making cakes.

          “Grandmother, grandmother,” he said, “your wood is almost gone. Take this wood of mine and bake some more cakes.”

          The woman took the wood and thanked him for his kindness.  The monkey stood beside her.  When the last stick was burned the monkey cried out, “Grandmother, grandmother, you have burned up my wood.  Now you must give me all your cakes to pay for it.”

          The old woman could not cut more dry wood at once, so she gave him all the cakes.

          The monkey took the cakes and started for the town.  On his way, he met a dog.  The dog barked and bit him.  The monkey fell and died.  The dog ate all the cakes.

Mabel Cook Cole

Phil. Readers Book V