151 Panchatantra Tales

There was a huge banyan tree in the jungle, providing shelter to the animals. A sparrow couple lived there. Mrs Sparrow had laid eggs. One afternoon, an evil elephant broke the branch of the tree where the sparrows lived. Their nest fell down and the eggs were broken. The sparrows went to the woodpecker, who […]

A monkey lived on a cherry tree by the river. One day, a crocodile asked him, “I am hungry, please give me something to eat.” The monkey gave him cherries. This went on every day and soon, they became good friends. One day the crocodile took some cherries for his wife too. She said, “How

There lived a crow couple on a banyan tree. In the same tree, there was a hole. A snake lived in it. He would climb up to the nest to eat the newly hatched babies. But Mother Crow would peck at him and drive him away. The crow couple went in search of food every

There was a crane who lived near a pond full of fish. But as he was old, it was difficult for him to catch them. So he came up with a plan. Standing by the pond, he wailed, “Soon, this lake will dry up and no one will survive. I will have to live by

Once, a villager was passing through a jungle on a bullock cart. Two bullocks were pulling the cart. Suddenly, one of the bullocks fell into a ditch. The villager failed to rescue the bullock. So he left him there and went away. After many hours, the bullock freed himself. He drank from the river and

Once, a Brahmin lived in a small village. He made a living by performing rituals. One day, a rich merchant gave him a goat for his services. The Brahmin slung the goat over his shoulders and walked towards his home. On the way, two crooks saw the Brahmin. They wanted to cheat him and take

One morning, King Lion was in a bad mood. Queen Lioness had told him that he had bad breath. He wanted to confirm the same, so he called upon his three counsellors – the sheep, the wolf and the fox. First he asked the sheep, “Do I have bad breath?” The sheep bowed and said,

There was a mango tree by a river. It was home to many birds who lived on its branches. A little bird lived there too. She had worked hard collecting straws, leaves and feathers to build her nest. She was proud of her lovely home. One evening, it rained heavily. All the birds and the

It was a hot summer. Waters in the lake had dried up. King Elephant called his subjects and said, “I know of a huge lake in another forest. Let’s go there.” They marched towards that forest and reached the lake after five nights. The elephants were so ecstatic to see water that they unknowingly trampled

One day, the birds of a jungle gathered to choose their king. An owl was perched on a tree near by. The discussion went on for hours. Finally, a parrot suggested, “The owl should be our king.” The owl couldn’t see anything in the daylight but heard everything clearly. He was glad. As the birds

Once upon a time, there lived a king. His palace was surrounded by a lake with a garden around it. Many golden swans lived in the lake. The king would go for a walk in the garden every morning and collect the golden feathers shed by the swans. One day, when the king came to

Once upon a time, a flock of doves was flying in search of food. Soon, they saw rice grains lying under a banyan tree. They began pecking at the grains, but realised that a hunter had laid his net there. The doves were trapped. King Dove said, “Union is strength. Let’s fly together, clutching the

Once, there was a king who had a pet monkey. He used to take it wherever he went. The monkey would stay in the king’s bedroom and guard him. One night, when the king was sleeping, the monkey was fanning him, sitting by his side. A housefly came through the window and sat on the

In a forest, there lived a cruel lion who killed animals every day. One day, all the animals asked him to stop killing the other animals. The lion said, “One of you has to come every day to be my meal. The day no one comes, I will kill you all.” One day, it was

On a lonely night, a jackal was running for his life. He was being chased by some mongrels. Soon, the jackal reached the end of the village where a washerman lived. To save his life, he entered the washerman’s house and jumped into a vat of indigo. He hid there until the mongrels had left.