The Fisherman and the Bear

The Fisherman and the Bear story

retold by S.E. Schlosser 

One fine day an old Maine man was fishing and fishing on his favorite lake and catching nary a thing. Finally, he gave up and walked back along the shore to his fishing shack. When he got close to the front door, he saw it was open. Being of a suspicious nature, he walked to the door quietly and looked inside. There was a big black bear. It was just pulling the cork out

The mirror of Matsuyama

The mirror of Matsuyama story

In ancient days there lived in a remote part of Japan a man and his wife, and they were blessed with a little girl, who was the pet and idol of her parents. On one occasion the man was called away on business in distant Kyoto. Before he went he told his daughter that if she were good and dutiful to her mother he would bring her back a present she would prize very highly. Then the good man took

The lonely Landy

Kumpulan dongeng bahasa inggris

Dongeng bahasa inggris -The lonely Landy story

One day, there was a porcupine named Landy. He was lonely. No one wanted to play with him because they were afraid of his spikes.
Kumpulan dongeng bahasa inggris

“Dear Landy, we don’t want to play with you because your spikes are too sharp. We don’t want you to hurt us,” said Cici the rabbit one day.
Kumpulan dongeng bahasa inggris

“Cici is right. Landy. It is not because you’re

The old Grandfather and his Grandson

The old Grandfather and his Grandson story

Once upon a time, there was a very old grandfather. His eyes were almost blind, his ears were deaf and his knees shock. When he sat at the table, he could not hold the spoon strongly, he spilled soup on the tablecloth. Besides, some of his soup would run back out of his mouth.

His son and his son’s wife were annoyed. Finally, they made the old grandfather sat in the corner behind the stove. They gave him not enough food in a clay bowl. He sat there and looked at them sadly. He was almost crying.

One day, the old grandfather could not hold the bowl because his hands were too weak. The bowl fell to the ground and broke. The woman scolded him. However, the old grandfather did not say anything. He could only cry. Then, they bought hi a wooden bowl and made him eat from it.

Once the husband and wife were sitting in the dining room, their four-years-old son put together some pieces of wood on the flour. His father asked him what he was doing. The little child said that he was making a bowl for his father and mother to eat from when he became an adult.

The man and the woman looked at each other. They began to cry. They brought the old grandfather to the table immediately. Since then, they always let him eat there. If he spilled a little, they did not say anything.

Adapted from “Scanffolding Englidh for Grade VIII Junior High School (SMP/MTs)

The tiger, the monkey, and the mousedeer story

The tiger, the monkey, and the mousedeer story
(Favourite story from Malaysia)

There was a tiger whose greatest friend was a monkey. One day, the tiger went away fo a holyday and told the monkey to look after his cave. A mousedeer, his wife and family came to live in the cave.

“you can’t do that,” said the monkey. “This cave belongs to the King of the Forest.”

“Oh, does it?” the mousedeer replied. “My father lived here long before the tiger come. Anyway, I’m not afraid of the tiger, he’s only a paper tiger to me.”

He told his wife what to do when the tiger returned. “You must make our babies cry. I’ll then ask you why they’re crying. You must say that they want to eat tiger meat,”

A few days later, the monkey heard that the tiger was coming home. He ran to meet him. “The mousedeer’s living in your cave.” He told him. “He says he’s not afraid of you and that you’re only a paper tiger.”

“Is that so?” growled the tiger. “I’ll soon teach hi a lesson.”

The tiger did not believe that the small mousedeer could be so brave. He crept up to the cave.

The mousedeer’s children were crying loudly, “Keep quiet,” said Mrs. Mousedeer ”Your father will soon get some tiger meat for you.”

Then tiger heard this and ran back to the monkey.

“I thought that mousedeer only ate grass and vegetables,” he said. “But Mrs. Mousedeer said that her husband would soon get some tiger meat to feed their children. Perhaps the mousedeer has changed?”

“Don’t worry,” the monkey replied, “They’re only saying that to frightened you. The mousedeer is not big and strong. He can’t fight.”

The next day, the tiger went to the cave again. The mousedeer’s children were again crying.

“Tell them to kept quiet,” said the mousedeer to his wife. “We shall certainly get some tiger meat today. The monkey has promised to send the tiger here.”

When the tiger heard this, he became very angry with his friend, he quickly run after the monkey and killed him.

The tiger did not go back to the cave, and the mousedeer and his family lived there happily ever after.

The old woman and the fish

The old woman and the fish story
(Favourite story from Asia)

A long time ago, there lived in Indonesia an old widow. She had no sons or daughters and no one knew anything about her family. She lived by collection stick which she sold as firewood. With the money she earned she bought a little rice.

She had never been to school. She did not know about God and so she had never prayed or been to mosque.

One day, she was collecting firewood in the forest

Legend of the first banana story

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl called Maria. She was tall, with black eyes, and long shining hair. The colour of her skin was a clear light brow.

One morning, while she was collecting firewood, she met a young man.

He looked like a hunter. He was tall, handsome and very neatly dressed. No one knew

The Wise Governor

The Wise Governor story
(Favourite story from Taiwan)

Kumpulan cerita bahasa inggris-narrative teks There was a wise governor of a small town in northern Taiwan. His name was Chu-San. One day, he inspected the local prison.

He saw many prisoners there and asked the prison guard what they had done. “They are all robbers,” said the guard.

“Release them!” the governor said. He told the robbers, “You can go

The first man and woman in the Philippenes story

The first man and woman in the Philippenes story

Folktale from Philippines

The god Kaptan loved his wife Maguayan very much. They lived together in the sky. They had nothing to do all day except watch the earth below. They watched the sun rise every morning. The earth was bathed in its beautiful golden rays. At night, the moon and stars shone with a silvery light.
Folktale from Philippines

But after some time, they became tired of

The king of the forest

English Story - The king of the forest

Many years ago, so long ago that no one knows exactly when a lion lived in a  cave in the forest. He was very strong and fierce, with pointed claws and teeth as sharp as knives. All the animal living in the forest were afraid of him.

He was lazy and did nothing every day except eat and sleep. Mr. Peacock swept the floor of his cave with

Juan and the crabs story

Juan and the crabs story

In many parts of the Philippines, there are stories about the funny adventures of a naughty, lazy and stupid boy. He is called by different names in different parts of the Philippines. In this story, he is called Juan Pusong, the name by which he is known among the Visayans.

One day, Juan was sent to the market by his mother to buy some crabs for dinner. At the market, Juan chose five crabs and put them in his basket. On his way home

Fabel - The rabbit’s tail

Fabel - The rabbit’s tail story

Many years ago, rabbits had long tails, not short ones, and crocodiles had tongues.

One such long-tailed rabbit lived near a pond. He drank water from the pond and the grass nearby.

Now, in the pond lived a crocodile. The crocodile saw the rabbit eating grass and drinking water, and he thought how nice it would be to eat the rabbit.

One day the crocodile swam very close to the edge of the pond. He lay still in the water, hoping that the rabbit wouldn’t see him. When the rabbit came to drink

Mice have sharp teeth

Mice can eat iron bar story
(Favourite story from Malaysia)

Many years ago, there was a trader who had to leave suddenly for a far country. He did not know what to do with some iron bars which he had. As his friend had a shop, he left them with him.

“Please try to sell them for me at the best possible price.” He told his friend. “You can pay me when return.”

“Oh, all right,” said his friend, “I’ll do my best to help you.”

While he was away, his friend

The golden chain story

The golden chain story
(Favourite Story From Malaysia)

Many years ago, there was a fisherman in Malaysia whose name was Mahmud. He was a kind man but he dreamed of nothing else but how to get rich. He was not really interested in catching fish. He had heard tales from his father and grandfather of treasure ships being sunk off the coast of Malaysia. So he visited all these places in the hope of being able to

The seven brothers

cerita rakyat -The seven brothers story
(Favourite story from ASIA)

Cerita Rakyat bahasa inggris

There was an old man who had seven sons. The eldest was called Mr. Giant; the second Mr. Typhoon; the third Mr. Iron man; the fourth Mr. Not-Afraid-of-heat; the fifth Mr. long Legs; the sixth Mr. Big Feet; and the seventh Mr. Big Mouth.
Cerita Rakyat bahasa inggris

One day, the old man said to his seven sons, “It’s not very easy to move around where we live. In the west, there’s a high mountain and in the east, there’s a deep ocean. Please move both of them

MaT Jambol and the turtle

Mat jambol and the turtle story

One day, while Mat Jambol was out fishing, a large wave smashed into boat. Mat Jambol hit his head against the side of the boat and fell into the water. When he awoke, he found himself being helped by two turtles The larger one held him up by swimming under him, and the smaller one bit him gently from time to time to keep him awake. Together, the turtles brought him

Juan and the bamboo shoots

Juan and the bamboo shoots story

Juan left home and went to another town. He lost his way and could not find his relative’s house. As it was past midday, a kind old man invited Juan into his house for lunch. There was a dish of young bamboo shoots on the table. Juan had never seen such food before. He tasted it. It was delicious. Soon Juan had finished it without leaving any for the old man.

“That was a very tasty dish,” Juan said. “What kind of food was it?”

“Oh, it’s only bamboo,” the old man replied. He was surprised Juan did not know what it was.

When Juan returned home, he ask his mother for his sharp bolo or knife.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“I’m going to make some vegetable salad with bamboo,” Juan answered. He then pulled down the bamboo ladder from the front of the house. He cut it into small pieces. Then he asked his mother to fetch him a big pot of boiling water. He placed the pieces of bamboo in it and boiled them.

Although he boiled the bamboo pieces for hours and hours they never became soft enough to eat.

When his neighbours heard what had happened, they laughed at him and said how silly he was.

The king’s Kinka

The king’s Kinka story
(Favourite story from Thailand)

The kinka is a small lizard with a red ring around its neck. This story is about a kinka that lived in the king’s garden.

One day the king took a walk through his garden. He looked at the birds and the flowers. He looked at the trees. Suddenly he noticed a kinkas do when they are frightened.

“Look at this,” said the king. “this lizard is very clever. He knows how to behave before the king. He is certainly the most polite animal I have ever seen.”

The king called his gardener. “I want you to feed this kinka. Give him some meat each day. Here is a bag of gold coins to pay for the meat.”

And so, each day the gardener used two gold coins to buy meat for the kinka. The kinka grew fat and lazy. He no longer ran through  the garden.

One day the gardener was too busy to buy meat. Instead, he hung the two gold coins around the kinka’s neck. The kinka climbed to the top of the garden gate. Soon the king came along on his daily walk. He saw the kinka. This time the kinka did not nod its head because the coins around its neck were so heavy. It simply looked down on the king.

“What a proud kinka you are,” said the king. “You are too proud to be polite.”

After that the king refused to buy any special meat for the kinka. Like other animals, the kinka once again had to find its own food.

Sri Thanonchai story

Sri Thanonchai story

(Folktale from Thailand)

Sri Thanonchai was a very clever man. Some people thought he was too clever. Others thought he was just a fool. They all talked about him.
Folktale from Thailand

When the king heard about Sri Thanonchai, he was surprised. “I am a clever man myself,” said the king. “Surely this fellow cannot be more clever than I am.”
Folktale from Thailand 

The king decided to visit Sri Thanonchai. He put on old clothes and called for his elephant. He rode to Sri Thanonchai’s house near the river. Sri Thanonchai was sitting on the step.
Folktale from Thailand 

“That’s a nice elephant you have, mister,” he called out. “Why, thank you,” said the king. “In fact, it’s a palace elephant. I work there.”
Folktale from Thailand 

“Then you must be very clever.”

“Yes, I’m one of the king’s minister. I’m almost as clever as the king himself.”

“Oh, no one is as clever as the king,” said Sri Thanonchai.

“Some people say you are,” the king said. “So I have come to test you. If you are more clever than I am, perhaps you are as clever as the king.”
Folktale from Thailand 

“What kind of test did you have in mind?”

“Well,” said the king, “I don’t suppose that you’re clever enough to make me jump into the river.”

Sri Thanonchai thought about this, he looked at the river, and he looked the king. He scratched his head. “No,” he said.  “I’m not that clever. I can’t make you jump into the river.”
Folktale from Thailand 

“Then I win,” said the king.

Sri Thanonchai looked at the king. He looked at the river, and after a while he said, “Of course I am not clever enough to make you jump into the river. But it would be even more difficult to make you climb out. Only a very, very clever man could make you do that.”
Folktale from Thailand 

Hearing this, the king jumped into the river. “Are you clever enough to make me climb out?” he shouted.
Folktale from Thailand 

Sri Thanonchai laughed. “You can stay there for all I care,” he said. “I made you jump into the river. Surely you are clever enough to climb out.”
Folktale from Thailand 

The king swam to the shore. He climbed out of the water. “Sri Thanonchai,” he said, “You bare more clever than I am. You are the cleverest man in the kingdom.
Folktale from Thailand 

Legend - How the Philippines was made

How the Philippines was made story

Many thousands of years ago, a man and his wife lived in the Philippines, they were called Angngalo and Angngarab.

One morning, they went to

The old man who like dragons

The old man who like dragons story

Once upon a time, there was an old man who said he liked-dragon. He even painted dragons on the doors and walls of his house.

The King of the dragon lived in the palace of the Queen Mother of the West. When he heard about

The fox and the tiger

Narrative text - The fox and the tiger story

One day a tiger caught a fox in the forest. Before the tiger could eat him up, the cunning fox cried out, “You cannot make a meal of me. Don’t you know that I am King of the forest? If you eat me up, all the other animals of the forest will be

the white rabbit

The White Rabbit story

There once lived a white rabbit on a small island. One day, when he was on the beach, he saw a large island in the distance.

“There must be a lot of good fresh grass on that island. But how can I go to it without a boat?” while he was thinking about what to do a big

Folktale from Japan

The Cat and The Rat story

Folktale from Japan

Long ago, the God Heaven spoke to all of the animals in the world.
Folktale from Japan

“Twelve animals will be chosen to protect the world. Each one will do this for a year at a time. Come to my palace on the twelfth day of the first moon. The first twelve animals to arrive will be chosen.
Folktale from Japan

All of the animals waited excitedly for

Why herons and crows are enemies

 Why herons and crows are enemies story

A long time ago, all birds were the same colour. The only difference between them was their size. When they flew high in the air, people did not know what kind of birds they were. They all looked the same.

So the birds held a meeting and decided, “We shall all have different colours, then people can

How the frog defeated the giant

How the frog defeated the giant story

A giant lived by himself in a hut in the forest. One night, it was raining very heavily. The giant could not sleep because some frogs were making a loud noise, “Oeng!” “Ang!” “Ang!” “Ong!”

He became very angry. He rushed outside to find them. It was so dark, he could not see where he was going. He stepped on some red ants and

Why Dayaks like hornbills

 Why Dayaks like hornbills story

One day a Dayak named Ketupong went into the jungle to hunt birds. He saw one with strange red eyes. He raised his blowpipe to his mouth. “Psst” the dart hit the bird. He bent  down to pick it up. Suddenly it changed into a beautiful dress made of bird’s feathers. He put it in the bamboo

The Magic Box

Englishstory12 - Once upon a time, there was a poor farmer who dug up a big box in his field. He took it home with him and showed it to his wife. His wife cleaned it and kept it in their house. One day, she dropped an apple into it. Immediately the box began to fill up with apples. No matter how many were taken out, others took their place. So the farmer and his wife sold the apples and were able to live quite comfortably.

Then the farmer dropped a coin into the box. At once, the apples disappeared and the box began to fill itself with coins. Every day, the farmer and his wife collected hundreds and hundreds of dollars from the box. Soon they became very rich.

Now the farmer’s grandfather lived with the couple. He was not very strong and he could not go out to work. So the farmer asked the old man to help him take the money out of the box. When his grandfather became tired and wanted to rest, the farmer shouted at him. “Why are you lazy? Why can’t you work harder?

The old man did not say anything but he continued working until he fell inside the box and died. At once, the money disappeared, and the box began to fill up with dead grandfathers.

The farmer had to pull them out and bury them. To do this, he had to spend all the money he had collected. When he had used up all the money, the box and the farmer was just poor as he was before.  

Mahosoth story

Narrative text -Mahosoth story
(Favourite story from Thailand)

In one of his lives the Buddha was born the son of a merchant. The merchant called the boy Mahosoth. Mahosoth was a very clever boy, and he grew up to be a very wise man. He was good at ending quarrels

Three Foolish Sons

Narrative text - Three Foolish Sons
(Favourite story from Taiwan)
 

Long, long ago there was a rich man who had three sons. They lived in a large house in the town of Keelung in northern Taiwan.

One day, he said to his sons, “You are no longer children. You must do something to earn your own living. When I die

The Brave Soldier

The brave soldier

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Hou Chin who lived in the small Taiwanese village of Shin Chuang. He was very kind. Whenever he saw

The woodcutter and the king of the mice

The woodcutter and the king of the mice

(Favourite story from Cambodia)

The king of the mice lived inside a banyan tree in a forest. One day, a poor man was cutting down some trees. As he started to cut down the banyan tree, the king of the mice grew frightened “Please, leave the tree standing” he said to the woodcutter, “and I’ll give you a piece

One thing leads to another

Long ago, a man climbed up a palm to pick the leaves. He wanted to make them into baskets and toys. While he was working, he said proudly, “First, I’ll sell my baskets. Then I’ll buy some clothes. Then I’ll buy a buffalo to plough my rice-field. I’ll tell him what to do. If he disobeys. I’ll kick him.”

As he said this, he kicked his

English story for kids

 The kind man and the tiger story
(Favourite story from Cambodia)
 

One day, a man called Sok went into the forest to cut  wood. Before long, he found a tiger lying on the path. He looked more closely at the tiger. He saw that it had fallen asleep on top of a snake’s hole. “A snake has bitten it,” thought Sok.

He was a kind man and he felt sorry for the tiger. He took some medicine from his bag and rubbed it on the tiger’s coat. Straight away, the tiger opened his eyes. He saw

Bathala and the Rainbow

Bathala and the rainbow story

In the beginning, there were no rainbows. The first rainbow was used by Bathala, who was king of the Gods and goddesses. He used the rainbow as abridge to join earth and sky.

In those days, Bathala and the Gods and goddesses

Mat Jambol and the tiger story

Mat Jambol and the tiger story
Folktale from Singapore

One day, as Mat Jambol was mending his fishing nets, he saw a man running across the field towards him.
Folktale from Singapore

“Mat, come quickly” cried the man. “a tiger has eaten my chickens and killed my goat.”

Mat Jambol ran back across the field with the farmer. when they got to the farmer’s house, he looked carefully at the ground. The tigers’s track led to a small clearing in the forest not far from the farm. In the grass were chicken feathers and some bones.
Folktale from Singapore

“The tiger brought your

the giant snake of Yamata

The giat snake of Yamata story

Long, long ago there was a powerful spirit, called Prince of Susano. Once when he was travelling across the mountains, he heard some people crying. They crying came from a house where an old couple lived. He asked them what made them cry.

“A giant snake with eight heads live near us. Every year the snake comes here and takes one of our daughters away. It has already taken seven of our daughters and we have only one left. Tonight the giant snake will come again and take her too,” sobbed the old man.

“Don’t worry any more,” said the prince. “I’ll kill the giant snake. Let me think. Yes I have a good plan. Please ask

The wise goat

The wise goat story

Over a river there was a very narrow bridge. One day a goat was crossing this bridge. In the middle of the bridge he met another goat. There was no room for them to pass. “Go back.” Said one goat to the other,” there is no room for both of us.”

“Why should I go back?” said the other goat. “Why shouldn’t you go back?”

“You must go back,” said the first goat. “because I am stronger than you.”

“You are not stronger than me,” said the second goat.

“We will see about that,” said the first goat, and he put down his horns to fight.

“Stop!” said the second goat. “If we fight, we shall both fall into the river and be drowned. Instead I have a plan I shall lie down, and you walk over me.”

Then, the wise goat laid down on the bridge, and the other goat walked lightly over him. So, they passed each other, and went on their ways.

The home of tortoise

the home of tortoise story

 

A long time ago, in a dessert lived a tortoise. The tortoise had a brown wrinkly body because the sun always beating down on him, without any protection his skin was getting burnt.

The cheetah couldn’t see him. Suddenly the tortoise tripped and tumbled down a steep, rocky mountain. Later that day, at the bottom of the mountain the tortoise woke up, spinning on his back. The tortoise felt a dizzy and he had a lot of pain, he tried to get up but he couldn’t. he felt something hard and heavy on his back. He realized he had a cracked rock on his wrinkly body.

The cheetah came crashing down the mountain to see if the tortoise was OK. He tried to help the tortoise to get up and pull the rock off his back. The tortoise screamed in pain because the rock wouldn’t come off. The cheetah said “You look better with the rock and it will protect you from the sun”.