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.

Mountain climber

The story tells about a mountain climber, who wanted to climb the highest mountain.
He began his adventure after many years of preparation, but since he wanted the glory just for himself, he decided to climb the mountains alone.
The night fell heavily in the heights of the mountain, and the man could not see anything. All was black. Zero visibility, and the moon and the stars were covered by the clouds As he was climbing…only a few feet away from the top of the mountain, he slipped and fell into the air.
Falling at a great speed the climber could only see black spots as he went down, and the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity. He kept falling … and in those moments of great fear, it came to his mind all the good and bad episodes of his life, he was thinking now about how close death was getting, when all of a sudden he felt the rope tied to pulled his waist and pulled him very hard. His body was hanging in the air…
Only the rope was holding him. And in that moment of stillness “he had no other choice but to scream: “Help me God…”
All of a sudden, a deep voice coming from the sky answered want do you want me to do?

“Save me God!”
“Do you really think I can save you?”
“Of course I believe you can.”
Then cut the rope tied to your waist”
There was a moment of silence…and the man decided to hold on the rope with all his strength. The rescue team tells that the next day a climber was found dead and frozen. His body was hanging from a rope, his hands holding tight to it, only three feet away from the ground

The Tortoise and the Hare
A speedy hare lived in the woods. She was always bragging to the other animals about how fast she could run. The animals grew tired of listening to the hare. So one day, the tortoise walked slowly up to her and challenged her to a race. The hare howled with laughter. “Race you? I can run circles around you!” the hare said. But the tortoise didn’t budge. “OK, Tortoise. You want a race? You’ve got it! This will be a piece of cake.” The animals gathered to watch the big race. A whistle blew, and they were off. The hare sprinted down the road while the tortoise crawled away from the starting line. The hare ran for a while and looked back. She could barely see the tortoise on the path behind her. Certain she’d win the race, the hare decided to rest under a shady tree. The tortoise came plodding down the road at his usual slow pace. He saw the hare, who had fallen asleep against a tree trunk. The tortoise crawled right on by. The hare woke up and stretched her legs. She looked down the path and saw no sign of the tortoise. “I might as well go win this race,” she thought. As the hare rounded the last curve, she was shocked by what she saw. The tortoise was crossing the finish line! The tortoise had won the race!
The confused hare crossed the finish line. “Wow, Tortoise,” the hare said, “I really thought there was no way you could beat me.” The tortoise smiled. “I know. That’s why I won.”

A man called home to his wife and said, “Honey I have been asked to go fishing up in Canada with my boss & several of his Friends. We’ll be gone for a week. This is a good opportunity for me to get that Promotion I’ve been wanting, so could you please pack enough Clothes for a week and set out my rod and fishing box, we’re leaving from the office & I will swing by the house to pick my things up” “Oh! Please pack my new blue silk pajamas.” The wife thinks this sounds a bit fishy but being the good wife she is, did exactly what her husband asked. The following Weekend he came home a little
tired but otherwise looking good. The wife welcomed him home and asked if he caught many fish? He said, “Yes! Lots of Salmon, some Bluegill, and a few Swordfish. But why didn’t you pack my new blue silk pajamas like I asked you to Do?” The wife replied, “I did. They’re in your fishing box.

Paul was a very rich man, but he never spent any of his money.

He was scared that someone would steal it.

He pretended to be poor and wore dirty old clothes.

People laughed at him, but he didn’t care.

He only cared about his money.

One day, he bought a big lump of gold.

He hid it in a hole by a tree.

Every night, he went to the hole to look at his treasure.

He sat and he looked.

‘No one will ever find my gold!’ he said.

But one night, a thief saw Paul looking at his gold.

And when Paul went home, the thief picked up the lump of gold, slipped it into his bag and ran away!

The next day, Paul went to look at his gold, but it wasn’t there.

It had disappeared!

Paul cried and cried!

He cried so loud that a wise old man heard him.

He came to help.

Paul told him the sad tale of the stolen lump of gold.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said.

‘Get a big stone and put it in the hole by the tree.’

‘What?’ said Paul.

‘Why?’

‘What did you do with your lump of gold?’

‘I sat and looked at it every day,’ said Paul.

‘Exactly,’ said the wise old man.

‘You can do exactly the same with a stone.’

Paul listened, thought for a moment and then said, ‘Yes, you’re right. I’ve been very silly. I don’t need a lump of gold to be happy!’