Inspirational Stories #118 - Aesop's tales # 3 - The Wind and the Sun

The wind and the sun argued one day over which one was the stronger. Spotting a man traveling on the road, they sported a challenge to see which one could remove the coat from the man's back the quickest.

The wind began. He blew strong gusts of air, so strong that the man could barely walk against them. But the man clutched his coat tight against him. The wind blew harder and longer, and the harder the wind blew, the tighter the man held his coat against him. The wind blew until he was exhausted, but he could not remove the coat from the man's back.

It was now the sun's turn. He gently sent  his beams upon the traveler. The sun did very little, but quietly shone upon his head and back until the man became so warm that he took off his coat and headed for the nearest shade tree.

Moral: Gentle persuasion is stronger than force. 

Inspirational Stories #117 - Aesop's tales # 2 - The Goose that laid the Golden Egg

A man and his wife owned a very special goose. Every day the goose would lay a golden egg, which made the couple very rich.

"Just think, said the man's wife, if we could have all the golden eggs that are inside the goose, we would be richer much sooner".

"You're right, said the husband, we wouldn't have to wait for the goose to lay her egg every day".

So, the couple killed the goose and cut her open, only to find that she was just like every other goose. She had no golden eggs inside of her at all, and they had no more golden eggs.

Moral: Too much greed results in nothing.

Inspirational Stories #116 - The Importance of Having Friends

Once upon a time, a lonely hawk lived on a tree by the riverside. He was young and handsome but he had no friends.

One day, he saw a beautiful she-hawk sitting on a tree and wanted to marry her but the she-hawk refused to marry him, as he had no friends.

 “Will you marry me if I make three friends?” – he asked. She said that she definitely would.

The hawk then went looking for friends. While flying on the other bank of the river, he saw a huge tortoise. The hawk flew down to him and said, “Dear tortoise, will you be my friend and help me in my hour of need?” The tortoise agreed to become his friend and said, “Call me whenever you need me and I shall come to your side.”

 

The hawk also promised him his help at any time and then flew in search of the second friend. Soon, he came upon an osprey. The hawk went to it and asked her if she would be his friend and help him in time of his need. The osprey very gladly accepted his friendship and offered her help whenever he needed it.

Inspirational Stories #115 - Determining Your True Path

A master was strolling through a field of wheat when a disciple came up to him and asked, “I can’t tell which is the true path. What’s the secret?”

 “What does that ring on your right hand mean?” – asked the master.

 “My father gave it to me before dying.”

 “Well, give it to me.”

The disciple obeyed, and the master tossed the ring into the middle of the field of wheat.

 “Now what?” – shouted the disciple.

 “Now I have to stop doing everything I was doing to look for the ring! It’s important to me!”

 “When you find it, remember this: You yourself answered the question you asked me. That is how you tell the true path: It is more important than all the rest.”

Inspirational Stories #114 - Aesop's tales # 1 - A Council of Mice

As promised, the subsequent posts will have a collection of tales from the Greek story teller, Aesop. Aesop was a slave in ancient Greece. Not much is known about his life. Most of the characters in his stories are animals, and Aesop uses the natural tendencies of animals to focus on human traits and wisdom. Each story has a moral to be learned from it.

Here is the first one.

The mice, frustrated by the constant dangers of the cat, meet in council to determine a solution to their tiring challenge. They discussed, and equally rejected, plan after plan. Eventually, a very young mouse raised up on his hind legs, and proposed that a bell should be hung around the cat's neck.

"What a splendid idea!" they cried.

"Excellent suggestion!"

"Oh yes, that would very well warn of the cat's presence in time to escape!"

They were accepting the proposal with great enthusiasm and applause, until a quiet old mouse stood up to speak.

"This is, indeed, a very good suggestion, and would no doubt solve our problems, he said. "Now, which one of us will put the bell around the cat's neck?"

Moral: It is one thing to propose. It is something else to carry it out.