151 Panchatantra Tales

Once there was a carpenter. He was bald. The carpenter had an apprentice who helped him in his workshop. One day, the carpenter was busy at work when a mosquito began bothering him. The mosquito flew near him and the carpenter got irritated by the buzzing sound. He found it difficult to work when the […]

Once there was a king, who was just and kind. He decided to build a palace on the banks of a river. The king’s men went to the riverbank to see the palace site. They came back to the king and said, “There is a hut on the riverbank and an old woman lives in

There was a boy in a village. He had many sheep. Every day, he would take them out to graze in the fields. The boy was a prankster. He loved playing tricks on people. One day, he shouted, “Help! A wolf took my sheep!” The villagers heard his cries and went running to him, ready

Once, there was a disciple of the Buddha. He had gone to the village and was returning to the monastery. On the way, there was a river. It was getting dark and there were no boatmen around. The disciple said, “O Buddha, I’m surrendering myself to you. I’m yours and you know how to take

There was a rich man in a village. One day, he saw an ascetic sitting under a tree and asked him to stay in his house. The rich man had a pot of gold coins with him and he thought it would be safe to bury the pot in the ascetic’s room. So he asked

A donkey and a fox were wandering in the forest. They were good friends. They were too engrossed in chatting and were taken aback when they saw a lion near by. It was too late to turn around and run. The fox had an idea. He said to the donkey, “Don’t worry. I’ll make friends

One afternoon, a woodcutter was cutting a huge tree by the river. Suddenly, his axe fell into the water. The woodcutter had only one axe and he had lost it. He did not have money to buy another axe. He sat by the river and wept. The river goddess heard him weeping. She appeared before

There was a farmer who had many acres of land. He also had many hens and a donkey in his yard. One day, he was sitting on his cot, deep in thought. His wife asked him, “Dear husband, what is the matter?” The farmer said, “There’s a fox who steals a chicken from our yard

Once upon a time, there was an astronomer. He loved watching the movement of various stars and planets. He was so engrossed in his work that he forgot the world around him. One night, he was watching a star from his garden, but he did not get a good view since there were many trees

Once, there was a boy who lived in a village. He was very fond of swimming. Every day, he would go to the river along with his mother. Then he would go swimming, while his mother sat on the riverbank, waiting for him. One day, he went to the river alone. He was so engrossed

There was a washerman who had a donkey and a rooster. The rooster would perch on the window of the house, while the donkey would roam in the yard. The washerman would lead the donkey to the river with a big bundle of clothes tied to his back. When the donkey returned home, he would

It had just rained and the sun was peeping through the clouds amid patches of bright blue sky. A buffalo was grazing near a pool in a meadow. Suddenly, a gnat began buzzing around him. He buzzed all around the buffalo, and then settled on his horns. Then he said to the buffalo, “Pardon me,

There was a tyrant king who punished his subjects severely. Everybody was afraid of him. One day, he went hunting in the morning. When he returned in the evening, he was a changed man. The next day, he told his subjects, “I promise to be a benevolent king from now on.” Many days passed thus.

There was a colony of hares in a forest. Every day, hunters would come there and hunt down a few hares. All the hares were scared and they were sad. One day, the chief of the hares said, “We cannot live like this in fear every day. Let’s go together and jump into the lake

Once upon a time, there was a tiger. He had grown old and he could not hunt anymore. He wandered about in the forest and came to a swamp. A gold bracelet lay near by. The tiger had an idea. He sat in the swamp with one paw up in the air, holding the bracelet.