The Greatness of Haji Mohammad Moshin

One night Haji Mohammad was saying his paper in his dark room. It was midnight. The room was quite silent. Moshin was in deep meditation of Allah. At that time a thief broke into his room. He caught hold of the thief.

 The thief got nervous and began to tremble with fear. He thought that Moshin would beat him to death. So his hands began to tremble for imprisonment. He fell at the feet of Moshin and begged him for mercy with tears in his eyes. He begged Moshin again and again to sit him free.

Moshin did not beat the thief. “Don’t you know that that stealing is a great sin?”

“Sir, I know it.” the thief. Said weeping “But I can’t but steal.  My children have been going on without food for days together. I could not give them any food. I tried my best to get work or earn money in honest way but I got no work. I couldn’t see my children die of starvation before my eyes. Thus, I took the course. Please let me go this time.”

At his entreaty Moshin was moved to pity and said, “I‘ll set you free and I’ll give you money too but on one condition.”

“What‘s the condition?” then asked Mohsin very quickly. “Please tell me it. I’ll do whatever you ask me to do. “

“Better die of starvation than steal,” said Moshin to the thief. “It is an evil way of life. You must give it up. You must promise me that you will never steal in future but live an honest life. Then I’ll set you free and give money to start a shop. If you work honestly, you can earn money to buy food for you and the members of your family.”

The thief was struck with wonder and said, “Oh noble sir, I’ve no words to express my gratitude, may Allah bless you.”

Taking the money the thief went home and started a shop. He became an honest business man. From that day he gives up stealing.

Wisdom of King Solomon

Everyone has heard of King Solomon. The king of Jews was famous all over the world for his wealth and wisdom. The queen of Sheba heard much about Solomon and the worldwide wide reputation of his learning and wisdom. Attracted by such reports, she decided to test the king’s wisdom. She came to the court of Solomon and she brought with her two garlands of flowers- one natural and the other artificial. She placed them before the king and told him to take the natural one. Solomon was puzzled for a time. Suddenly a thought came to his mind and he told his one servant to open the window. After opening the window some bees came in from his garden and settled on the natural flowers and thus he solve the riddle of the queen. Queen Sheba was surprised and she went admiring the king’s wisdom.

The Boy and His Axe (Honesty is the best policy)

Long ago, there was a very poor boy. He lived alone with his father who was very sick. The boy chopped wood to earn a living.

 

One day, he saw a big tree beside a lake. He climbed up the tree to chop some branches. Suddenly, his axe slipped and fell into the lake and he started crying.

To his surprise, an old man appeared from the lake.

“Why are you crying?” he asked.

“My axe dropped into the water. I need it to chop wood,” replied the boy.

“Let me help you search for it,” said the old man. Then, he disappeared into the water. After awhile, he came back with a shiny golden axe.

“Is this your axe?” he asked.

“This axe is beautiful but it is not mine,” said the boy.

“Well, let me look once more,” said the old man before he disappeared into the water again.

A few minutes later, he came back with a silver axe.

“Is this your axe?” he asked.

“No, mine is just an ordinary axe. It is not made of silver or gold,” replied the boy.

The old man disappeared into the water for the third time. Later, he came back with the boy’s axe.

“Yes, yes, that is mine!” shouted the boy excitedly.

“I am glad that you are such an honest boy. Take these golden and silver axes too,” said the old man before he disappeared.

The moral value of this story is “Honesty is the best policy”.

The Goose That Laid Golden Eggs

There was a poor man who lived with his wife. They lived in an old house at the end of a village. Both the man and his wife were farmers. They reared some geese on their farm. The geese would lay eggs every day.

Then, the farmers would collect the eggs and sell them. They would get some money after selling the eggs.

One day, the farmer was surprised. One of the geese had laid a golden egg. "Come! Come and see this!" he called out to his wife. She came running to the coop. She was surprised to see the golden egg.

" Our goose has laid a golden egg!" she shouted happily. " We will be rich when we sell this golden egg!"

The farmer later went to town. He sold the golden egg to a goldsmith. He was happy to get a lot of money for it.  "If the goose lays a golden egg each day, we will be very rich soon!" the farmer said to his wife. The farmer's wish came true. The next day, he went to see the goose again. It had laid another golden egg.

The farmer had a lot of money now. The goose laid a golden egg every day. The farmer and his wife became very rich and lived in a new house.

Soon, the farmer became greedy. One day, he had an idea. He believed that the goose had many golden eggs in its stomach.

"If I cut the goose's stomach, I will get more golden eggs," he thought. So, he took a knife and walked towards the coop. He cut open the goose's stomach. However, he could not find any golden eggs in the goose's stomach. The farmer was very disappointed.

The farmer realised his mistake. The goose was dead and there was no more golden eggs.

This story tells us we should not be greedy or we will lose everything.

Clever Katya

The Czar of Russia was out in his coach when he saw a farmer eating some bread.

‘I’m hungry,’ said the Czar. ‘Stop the coach!’

He got out and asked the farmer for some bread. The farmer bowed low and gave him some.

‘This is the best bread I have ever tasted,’ said the Czar.  ‘Who made it? ’

‘My daughter, Katya, your Majesty,’ replied the farmer.

‘Tell me about Katya,’ said the Czar.

‘ Oh, she’s a wonderful girl,’ said the farmer.

‘ So pretty, so good, so strong, such a good worker, such a good singer …’

‘ And such a good baker,’ said the Czar with his mouth full of bread. ‘Is she clever too?’

‘Oh yes,’ boasted the farmer. ‘She’s the cleverest person in Russia.’

‘What? Cleverer than me?’     asked the Czar.

‘Oh no, your Majesty. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,’ began the farmer.

But the Czar had jumped back into his coach.

‘I’ll be back!’ he called out.

The next day the Czar came back. He gave the farmer a basket of eggs.

‘If your Katya is so clever, see if she can hatch these eggs into chickens,’ he said. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow!’

The farmer took the eggs to Katya.

‘But these eggs are hard boiled,’ she said. ‘They won’t ever hatch out.’

‘Oh no!’ said the farmer. ‘What shall we do?’

‘Don’t worry, I know what to do,’ said Katya with a smile.

The next day the Czar was on his way back to the farmer’s house when he saw a girl throwing some beans onto the ground. She was singing a song.

‘Grow, beans, grow!’ she sang.

The Czar stopped the coach.

'What is your name?' he asked the girl.

'Katya,' she replied.

'So you're Clever Katya,' said the Czar. 'What are you doing?

'I'm sowing boiled beans, your Majesty,' said Katya, and she went on with her song.

The Czar lauhged. 'How can boiled beans grow, you silly girl?' he asked.'They can grow just as quickly as hard boiled eggs can hatch out,'replied Katya.

The Czar lalughed again. 'That's a clever reply,' he said. 'I thought I could trick you but you were too clever for me. All right, you win this time, but let's see if you can do something else.'
'What's that?' asked Katya.

The Czar gave her a handful of wool.
' I want you to make curtains for the palace out of this,' he said.

Katya took the wool home and told her father what she had do.
'Oh no,'said the farmer. 'How can you make curtains with so little wool? It's impossible.'
'Don't worry, Father,' replied Katya. 'I'll think of something.'

The next day the Czar came back to the house.
He was beginning to like Katya.
'Well?' he asked. 'Have you made the curtains?'

Katya smiled and gave him a little twig.
'What's this for?' asked the Czar.
'Well, your Majesty, it's like this,' said Katya. 'We're very poor - too poor to buy a spinning wheel. But if you can make a spinning wheel out of this twig, then I can spin the wool and make your curtains.'

The Czar laughed. he knew he couldn't make a spinning wheel out of a little twig.
' You win again,' he said.
Katya laughed too. She was beginning to like the Czar.
'There's one more thing I want you to do,' said the Czar, and gave Katya a cup.
' I want you to fill this cup with all the water from the sea,' he said.

Katya told her what she had to do.
'but that's impossible,' he said.
'Don't worry,' Katya replied. 'I'll think of something.'

The next day the Czar was back. Katya came to the door with the cup.
'It's empty!' said the Czar. 'You're not so clever after all. You can't do what I asked.'

'Yes, I can,' replied Katya. 'I can fill the cup with all the water from the sea, but there's one problem.'

'What's that?' asked the Czar.

' Well,' said Katya, 'if I do that, then all the rivers will flow into the sea and fill it up again. But if you dam up all the rivers first, then I can fill the cup with water from the sea.'

The Czar laughed louder than ever. he knew he couldn't dam up all the rivers.
'You're a very clever girl,' he said. 'Will youi marry me?'
'I will if you promise me one thing,' said Katya.
'What's that?' asked the Czar.

'Promise me that if you ever get fed up with me and send me back home, you will let me take one thing with me.'

      'What thing?' asked the Czar.
      'The thing I love best in the palace,' replied Katya.
      'I promise,' said the Czar.

So Katya married the Czar, and for a year they lived happily. But one night the Czar was in bad mood and he quarrelled with Katya.

'You think you're so clever,' he said. 'Well, you can go back and be clever in your father's house.'.

He called his servants and told them to get a cart ready to take Katya home.

All Katya said was, 'You look tired. Have a cushion for your head.'

The cushion was very soft. The Czar closed his eyes and Katya began to sing softly. Before long the Czar fell asleep in his chair....

When the servants came back, Katya gave them a big chest and told them to put it on the cart.

'My clothes are in there,' she said.
'Your clothes are very heavy,' said the servants, but they heaved the chest onto the cart.

The servants took Katya home.

‘It’s good to see you, Katya,’ said her father, but he looked worried. ‘Why are you back? Did you quarrel with the Czar?’

‘Yes,’ said Katya. ‘But don’t worry. I won’t be back for long.’

They heaved the big chest off the cart and took it into the house.

‘It’s very heavy,’ said Katya’s father. ‘What’s in it?’

‘Open the lid and see,’ said Katya.

The farmer opened the lid of the chest. There inside lay the Czar, fast asleep.

‘What have you done?’ asked the farmer. He looked frightened.

Just then the Czar woke up and saw Katya.

‘I thought I told you to go back to your father’s house,’ he said.

‘I did,’ replied Katya.

The Czar sat up and looked around. He saw Katya’s father.

‘You wicked girl!’ he said to Katya. ‘How dare you kidnap the Czar of Russia!’

‘Don’t you remember your promise?’ asked Katya.

‘What promise?’ asked the Czar.

‘You promised that if you ever got fed up and sent me home I could keep the thing I loved best in the palace. Well, it’s you!’

The Czar laughed. He jumped out of the chest and hugged Katya.

‘You were right,’ he said to the farmer. ‘Your daughter is the cleverest person in Russia, and I’ll never send her away again.’

The Wolf in The Sheep's Skin

A hungry wolf saw a flock of sheep in a farm. They were eating grass. The wolf wanted to catch the sheep. The wolf was unlucky. There was a shepherd looking after the sheep. He had a rifle with him. “How am I going to catch those sheep?” the wolf asked itself.  “The shepherd will shoot me if I go into his farm.”

The wolf tried to think of a plan. It looked around and saw a sheep’s skin. It had an idea. It quickly stole the skin. The wolf covered itself with the skin. It disguised itself as one of the sheep. "Nobody will know that I am a wolf," the wolf said to itself. “Now, I can catch those sheep,” it said happily.

Then it walked slowly towards the other sheep.
 

The shepherd did not know that the wolf had disguised itself as a sheep. The wolf quietly caught one of the sheep. It ate the sheep.

The wolf continued to catch the other sheep and ate them one by one. The shepherd did not know what had happened to his sheep. Soon, the shepherd began to realize that his sheep were getting lesser. He wanted to find out what had happened to them.

The next day, the disguised wolf went to the farm again. It did not see the shepherd. The wolf jumped at one of the sheep. The shepherd was hiding behind a tree. He saw the disguised wolf. It was attacking one of his sheep.

Before the disguised wolf could eat the sheep, the shepherd came out. He pulled the sheep’s skin from the wolf. “So, it is you! You have been eating my sheep!” the shepherd shouted angrily.

 

The wolf could not run away anymore.

The shepherd caught the wolf and brought it home. He wanted to punish the bad wolf for eating his sheep.