The Nightingale and the Farmer

Englishstory12.blogspot.com - A nightingale, who had laid her eggs late in the season, was still hidden in the corn when it was almost ripe. She began to worry that the crop might be harvested before her young ones were able to fly away.

Whenever she left the nest, she always urged her chicks to keep their ears open and, upon her return, tell her every word that they had heard.

One evening, when she came back to the nest, she found her chicks in terror. The youngest spoke up: “The owner of the field told his sons to go and get their friends to come tomorrow to help with the harvesting of our field”

"Is that all,” smiled the nightingale “Don't be alarmed, my dears, because nothing will happen, you will see.”

And she was right. The next morning none of the friends turn up. The farmer sent them a second message, asking them to come and help the next day, and once again the nightingale was not worried in the slightest... until the day she finally heard the farmer said to his sons: “I’ve had enough. Tomorrow we shall bring in the harvest ourselves. When there is work to be done, we cannot count on our friends to do it for us.”

It was only then, that the nightingale took her chicks, and flew swiftly away without further delay.

The Broken Pot

There lived in certain place a Brahman, whose name was Syabhayakripana, which means “a born miser.” He had collected a quantity of rice by begging, and after having dined off it, he filled a pot with what was left over. He hung the pot on a peg on the wall, place his couch beneath, and looking intently at it all the night, he thought, “Ah, the pot is indeed brimful of rice. Now, if there should be a famine, I should certainly make a hundred rupees by it. With this I shall buy a couple of goats. They will have young ones every six months, and thus I shall have a whole herd of goats. Then, with the goats, I shall buy cows. As soon as they have calved, I shall sell the calves. Then, with the calves, I shall buy buffaloes; with buffaloes, I shall buy mares. When the mares have foaled, I shall have plenty of horses; and when I sell them, I will buy plenty of gold. With that gold I shall get a house with four wings. And then a Brahman will come to my house, and will give me his beautiful daughter, with a large dowry. She will have a son, and I shall call him Somasarman. When he is old enough to be danced on his father’s knee, I shall sit with a book at the back of the stable, and while I am reading, the boy will see me, jump from his mother’s lap, and run towards me to be danced on my knee. He will come too near the horse’s hoof, and full of anger, I shall call to my wife, “Take the baby; take him!” but she distracted by some domestic work, does not hear me. Then I get up and give her such a kick with my foot.

While he thought this, he gave a kick with his foot, and broke the pot. All the rice fell over him, and made him quite white. Therefore, I say “he who makes foolish plans for the future will be white all over, like the father of Somasarman”.

Special “Medicine” For the king

One day Abu heard from his neighbours that the king was ill. All good doctors in the country had tried to cure him but all of them failed. His neighbours suggested him to go to the pal­ace and cure the king. After wearing his best  robe, he then went to the palace to look in on his beloved king.

When he arrived at the palace, it was very quiet. He went directly to the king’s room. He saw the king lying, still on bed. Next to the bed were his ministers. They all looked very sad. One of the ministers approached Abunawas and talked very softly. He said that the king did not want to eat or drink. He even did not want to take the medicine. Abu looked closer at his king for some time. Then suddenly he smiled smartly as if he found something precious at the king's face. He excused himself to go home for a while and promised to be back soon.

When he got to his house he changed his best robe with the old one that had a torn somewhere. He used a big safety pin to cover up the torn. Soon he got back to the palace. He approached one of the ministers and said that he was able to cure the king with one condition; he should be left alone with the king in the room.

After everybody was out, Abu closed the door and came over to the king. He looked carefully at the king's face. He then undid his safety pin.

"Your Majesty, I have big and sharp safety pin in my hand. I'll count to three. If you do not get up I'll pierce this pin into both your heels. I know you're not ill. You're just pre­tending, Now, I’ll start counting ... one ... two......

"No don't do that Abu!" said the king suddenly. He got up and sat on bed. “Tell me. How do you know that I'm not ill?"

"It's simple. Your face looks reddish."

The king smiled. "You're right, Abu. I'm just pretending. I just want to know how much my people love me."

"They love you very much. They're sad when they heard that you're ill, and they offer their prayer to God for your health"

"I’m happy to hear that. But, please Abu, you must keep this secret. This is just between you and me."

"No problem, Your Majesty," Abu said while winking at the king. Abu went out of the room with a smile on his face.

"Our beloved king is getting better now," Abu said. "He ate the food and then took the medicine," he continued.

Everybody looked confused. They had tried everything to make their king, eat his food and take some medicine, but failed. Yet, when Abu came for some minutes, he could easily make it. They could not believe it. They were going to ask Abu ques­tions when they heard a loud voice from inside the room, "Hi, everybody! Come here! I need to talk to you."

"See? I told you! Our king is getting better," Abu said calmly while leaving them.