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Comment by Stephanie on January 15, 2009 at 10:50am

Good story
and good moral! Thanks!

Comment by Rajesh Dhari on January 15, 2009 at 10:46am

A STORY FROM PANCHATANTRA
Beware of Mean Friends

This is one more interesting story from the Hitopadesha Tales. Once upon a time, there lived a Lion by the name of Madotkata in a forest. Among his followers, a Jackal, a Crow and a Wolf had developed friendship with him. However, all the three had a selfish motive behind this so-called friendship. They knew that the Lion was the King of the forest and friendship with such fierce creature would always help them. To meet their selfish ends, they started obeying and were always available at the service of the Lion.

They didn’t have to make any efforts to search for their food, as the Lion used to give his leftover meals to them. Moreover, they became powerful as they were next to the King of the forest. So like this, all the three selfish friends were passing their days happily being the friends of the Lion. One day, a Camel, who came from some distant land, lost his way and entered the same forest where these friends lived. He tried his best to find out the way, but could not make it.

In the meantime, these three friends happened to pass through the same way where the Camel was wandering. When they saw the Camel, at once it came to their mind that he didn’t belong to their forest. The Jackal suggested to his other two friends, “Let’s kill and eat him”. The Wolf replied, “It is a big animal. We could not kill him like this. I think, first we should inform our King about this Camel”. The Crow agreed upon the idea given by the Wolf. After deciding, all of them went to meet the Lion.

On reaching the Lion’s den, the Jackal approached the Lion and said, “Your Majesty, an unknown Camel has dared to enter your kingdom without your consent. His body is full of flesh and he could make a nice meal for us. Let’s kill him”. The Lion roared loudly on hearing this and said, “What are you saying? The Camel has come for refuge in my kingdom. It is unethical to kill him like this. We should provide him the best shelter. Go and bring him to me”. All of them got dispirited to hear such words from the King.

They unwillingly went to the Camel and told him about the desire of the Lion, who wanted to meet him. The Camel was scared to know about the strange offer. He thought that his last moment had come and in a little while he would become the meal of the Lion. As he couldn’t even escape, so he decided to meet the Lion and left everything on the destiny. The selfish friends escorted the Camel to the Lion’s den. The Lion was happy to see the Camel. He welcomed him warmly and assured him of all the safety in the forest during his stay.

The Camel was totally amazed to hear the Lion’s words. He got very happy and started living with the Jackal, the Crow and the Wolf. One day, when the Lion was hunting for food, he had a struggle with a mighty Elephant. The Lion got badly injured in the struggle and became incapable of hunting for his food. Stricken by bad luck, the Lion had to sustain without food for days. Due to this, his friends too had to go hungry for days as they totally depended on the Lion’s kill for their food. But the Camel was satisfied grazing around in the forest.

All the three friends got worried and discussed the matter among them. On reaching a conclusion, they approached the Lion and said, “Your Majesty, you are getting weak day by day. We can’t see you in this wretched condition. Why don’t you kill the Camel and eat him?” The Lion roared, “No. How can you think such thing? He is our guest and we should not kill him. Don’t give such suggestions to me in future”. As the jackal, the crow and the wolf had set their evil eyes on the camel; they met once again and devised a plan to kill the Camel.

They went to the Camel and said, “Dear Friend, you know our King has not eaten anything from the past many days. He is unable to go for hunting due to his wounds and sickness. Under such circumstances, it becomes our duty to sacrifice ourselves to save the life of our king. Come with us, we will offer our bodies to make his food”. The Camel didn’t understand their plan, but innocently he nodded in favor of their plan. All of them approached the den of the Lion.

First of all, the Crow came forward and said, “Your Majesty, we didn’t succeed in getting any food for you. I can’t see you like this. Please eat me and make me obliged”. The Lion replied, “Dear, I will prefer to die than to perform such a sinful deed”. Then, the Jackal came forward and said, “Your Majesty, Crow’s body is too small to satisfy your appetite. I offer myself to you, as it is my duty to save your life”. The Lion politely rejected the offer. As per the plan, now it was the turn of the Wolf to offer himself to the King.

So, the Wolf came forward and said, “Your Majesty, Jackal is quite small to gratify your hunger. I offer myself for this kind job. Please kill me and satisfy your hunger”. After saying this, he lay prostrate before the Lion. But the Lion didn’t kill any of them. The Camel, who was watching the whole scene felt reassured of his safety and also decided to go forward and complete the formality. He marched forward and said, “Your Majesty, why don’t you kill me. You are my friend. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Please allow me to offer you my body”.

The Lion found the offer quite appropriate, as the Camel himself had offered his body for food, his ethics were maintained. The Lion attacked the Camel at once, ripped open his body and tore him into pieces. The Lion and his friends ate the delicious flesh to their fill. They feasted on the poor Camel for days together.

Moral: Beware of Mean Friends.

Comment by Stephanie on January 15, 2009 at 10:05am

Here is a short one, about when I was a child living in the Valley outside Los Angeles.
THE CIRCUS
We kids used to invent ways to make a little money. I washed cars with my friend, out front on a street that once permitted it - it wasn't traffic filled the way it is now. Or I would iron WHILE I was also babysitting (I would make ten cents per piece). But once my next door neighbor, Kristie, and I decided to have a "circus" of sorts. She had a poodle, (a fluffy dog, white and lovely to see) and we had a hoola hoop. She taught the dog to jump through it, just like in a real circus. We made popcorn, and all the kids in the neighborhood paid about 25 cents to come to the circus. Well, the popcorn was colored green (by us) and by the end of the circus, all the neighborhood kids went home with green mouths, teeth, tongue, the whole mouth.......I am sure to their mother's delight.

Comment by Stephanie on January 14, 2009 at 8:36pm

I love the simplicity of this short story - with a very powerful message.
Please write others when you can!! EVERYONE...write as many as you want. No limit.

Comment by Rajesh Dhari on January 14, 2009 at 7:13pm

One day Budha and his student were going somewhere together. On the way there was a river and on the bank of the river they saw a woman who was handicapped. "Please help me cross the river" she asked. Budha stopped and lifted her onto his back and crossed the river and the woman got off at the other side.

Both Budha and the student started their journey again to their destination. After 2 hours the student spoke to Budha saying "You have not done the job well! ". Budha replied to him "I left her two hours ago, but you are still carrying her with you!"

In our daily lives we are doing the same thing. Things happen at certain moments and we carry them with us for a long time.

Comment by Stephanie on January 14, 2009 at 1:14pm

Teddy Rocher
was a French woman who helped my mother when we were little and lived in Los Angeles. She lived with us a while, cared for us, and taught us a bit of French. Teddy was short, VERY, a little stout (she had been a shotput athlete in the Olympics) and very strong willed. I remembered learning "Donnez-moi du lait s'il vous plait" please pass the milk, and remembered gobbling tons of delicious crèpes that she would make for my sister brother and I - she couldn't make them fast enough and we still love crèpes til this day. (Crepes are made with flour, eggs, milk, and lightly fried and then rolled and filled with jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar).
When I was a little older, and visited her in her tiny apartment in Los Angeles she would comment "Why are you wearing a mini-skirt! In France they wear skirts past the knees!" I would be patient, but laugh at the long skirts in France (little did I know then that I would eventually live in Italy!)
Sometimes during my visits she would be doing sit-ups on the floor, she seemed old to me, but perhaps was only 50 or so. Her house seemed a mess - boxes, strings, papers, piled high everywhere. It was so packed in, she seemed like such an unusual person living in that mess. I never could imagine myself living in the middle of that (actually, I don't do much better nowadays myself - being an artist I am surrounded with so much stuff, sort of like Teddy!)
Sometimes during my visits Teddy would be working on preparing little boxes, with paper folded like an acordian in the inside to make separate spaces for her homemade candies. She made these generous delicate gifts to send to soldiers in the Vietnam war. The contrast of war and tiny chocolate boxes was, and still is, exactly that: a huge contrast. Her creations were the most delicate, delicious, beautiful selection of handmade sweets. To see her at work was so exciting and stired in me an emotion of something so true, real, every adjective that expresses love was wrapped up in her little "care packages". I'm sure any soldier truly appreciated her gesture.
How were these candies? Two were round sugary types, one peppermint and the other lemon (my favorite) and neatly criss-crossed with a fork on top. Another was dark chocolate rolled in powdered chocolate. Another was elongated to look like something from a tree, with a piece of almond stuck on top. These are the ones I remember. There may have been others.
But there was no other woman in my life like Teddy: she was an original - from France.

Comment by Christopher Stewart on January 14, 2009 at 8:07am

At noon in early fall
The day was gray with rain
And pausing from it all
I went along the lane

I walked to the river
And there I was given
Not one magic clover
Almost thirty-seven
______________________________

36 four-leaf and five-leaf clovers found in about 10 minutes in late September

Click the photo for more…

Comment by Bella Lychowski on January 14, 2009 at 2:16am

These anonymous boys made me smile and inspired me. There should be headlines on papers about them!

Story I´ve written is not short. So I´ll include only link.
http://onewebday.org/stories/?p=219

Comment by Bella Lychowski on January 14, 2009 at 1:54am

"Taxi driver on the left, thank you"

I left on 28th of August with a handfull of bags and turned right heading towards the beach avenue. As I was late, I thought the best would be to get the bus that goes along the seaside.

It was a quick decision, I don´t know why I looked to my left. There was a taxi driver cleaning his car. He was smiling and waved to me. I guess.

Probably it was a question of empathy, I don´t know why I suddenly decided I would take a taxi. Bags, hurry, the smell of the sea at night.


We only exchanged a few words, because a friend phoned me and, unexpectedly, we talked for quite a long time. When I left, he wished me "peace and health". I thanked him and wished him the same.
It was only when I arrived at the restaurant that I realised that I had lost my cell phone. Probably it simply fell down when I stepped out of the cab. But the driver was already gone.
I love to hear the bus driver saying "Be with God"*, when getting off the bus on my way to work. Oh, I will. Oh, we will.


It´s like the Brazilian version of the namaste.


I suppose I don´t need to tell you the end of the story, do I? It seems so obvious that taxi drivers that wish you "peace and health" will find a way to return lost cell phones to their owners, even if they are blocked by a password or have their batteries down.Honestly, I was not surprised. However, this has not diminished my gratitude to him an inch.

======================
From my blog "good news" :-)
http://isabellalychowski.blogspot.com/search/label/taxi%20driver

Comment by Stephanie on January 14, 2009 at 12:23am

Cal-el
thanks so much for this story and yes I agree with you 100%. Very interesting and educational. Thanks for sharing.
Everyone else too....lots of great stories here....don't stop at ONE. Tell more...
there is PLENTY of room on this page!

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