For Jews and Christians, the parable of King Solomon and the baby is a famous one. Two women came to the king fighting over the same baby. They both claimed to be the baby’s mother and asked the king to be the judge. Solomon said the only fair thing to do would be to cut the baby in half. One woman agreed to the plan, but the other refused. She was horrified at the idea and said she would give the baby to the other woman in order to save the infant’s life. The wise king Solomon heard this response and knew that he had found the baby’s true mother.

The parable of Solomon and the baby is a cross-cultural story. In fact, there is an almost identical Buddhist parable. Before the Buddha became the Buddha, he lived many past lives. In one of these past lives, he was a wise sage. Two women came to the sage arguing over who was the baby’s true mother. The sage said the only fair thing to do was to play tug of war. He drew a line on the ground and told one woman to grab the baby’s head and the other to grab the baby’s feet. The women were told to pull the baby to their side of the line. The winner would get the baby. Of course, the baby screamed out, and, of course, the true mother showed her true colors when she gave up her claim on the baby in order to keep the baby from getting hurt.

English Short Stories
The Foolish Fish

This Short Story The Foolish Fish is quite interesting to all the people. Enjoy reading this story.

In a huge pond, there lived many fish. They were arrogant and never listened to anyone. In this pond, there also lived a kind-hearted crocodile.

He advised the fish, “It does not pay to be arrogant and overconfident. It could be your downfall.” But the fish never listened to him. “There is that crocodile, advising us again,” they would say.

One afternoon, the crocodile was resting beside a stone near the pond, when two fishermen stopped there to drink water.

The fishermen noticed that the pond had many fish. “Look! This pond is full of fish. Let’s come here tomorrow with our fishing net,” said one of them. “I am surprised we have not seen this place before!” exclaimed the other.

The crocodile heard all this. When the fishermen left, he slowly slipped into the pond and went straight to the fish. “You all had better leave this pond before dawn. Early morning those two fishermen are going to come to this pond with their net,” warned the crocodile.

But the fish just laughed and said, “There have been many fishermen who have tried to catch us. These two are not going to catch us either. Do not you worry about us, Mr. Crocodile,” they said in a mocking voice.

The next morning, the fishermen came and threw their net in the pond. The nets were big and strong. Very soon all the fish were caught. “If only we had listened to Mr. Crocodile. He had only wanted to help. For our arrogance we have to pay with our lives,” said the fish.

The fishermen took the foolish fish to the market and sold them for a good profit.

Two friends, Sam and Mike, were riding on a bus. Suddenly the bus stopped and bandits got on. The bandits began robbing the passengers. They were taking the passengers’ jewelry and watches. They were taking all their money, too. Sam opened his wallet and took out twenty dollars. He gave the twenty dollars to Mike. “Why are you giving me this money?” Mike asked. “Last week I didn’t have any money, and you loaned me twenty dollars, remember?” Sam said. “Yes, I remember,” Mike said. “I’m paying you back,” Sam said.

Once there was a shepherd boy who had to look after a flock of sheep. One day, he felt bored and decided to play a trick on the villagers. He shouted, “Help! Wolf! Wolf!”

The villagers heard his cries and rushed out of the village to help the shepherd boy. When they reached him, they asked, “Where is the wolf?”

The shepherd boy laughed loudly, “Ha, Ha, Ha! I fooled all of you. I was only playing a trick on you.”

A few days later, the shepherd boy played this trick again.

Again he cried, “Help! Help! Wolf! Wolf!” Again, the villagers rushed up the hill to help him and again they found that boy had tricked them. They were very angry with him for being so naughty.

Then, some time later, a wolf went into the field. The wolf attacked one sheep, and then another and another. The shepherd boy ran towards the village shouting, “Help! Help! Wolf! Help! Somebody!”

The villagers heard his cries but they laughed because they thought it was another trick. The boy ran to the nearest villager and said, “A wolf is attacking the sheep. I lied before, but this time it is true!”

Finally, the villagers went to look. It was true. They could see the wolf running away and many dead sheep lying on the grass.

We may not believe someone who often tells lies, even when he tells the truth.