Short Stories Collection

Parable Of The Pencil

2012-01-28T10:55:00.000-08:00

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

“There are 5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.”
“One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone’s hand.”
“Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.”
“Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.”
“Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.”
“And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.”
The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.
Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.
One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God’s hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.
Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you’ll need it to become a stronger person.
Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.
Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside.
And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.
Allow this parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special person and only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.
Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot make a change.

Chico and the Crane

2012-01-28T10:52:00.000-08:00

There was a cook named Chico. His master had visitors for dinner and Chico was told to fry a crane. Chico felt hungry and so he ate one leg of the crane.
At dinnertime, when the master saw a missing leg, he shouted, “Chico! Why does this crane have only one leg?” Chico replied, “Sir, haven’t you seen cranes before? They only have one leg!” To teach Chico a lesson, next morning, his master took him to the pond nearby. Chico exclaimed, “Look, Master! Cranes have only one leg!” The master clapped his hands and all the cranes uncurled their other legs and flew away. “You fool! Did you see they have two legs!” cried the master. Clever Chico replied, “Sir, why didn’t you clap your hands at the table? You would have got two legs!”

Christmas

2012-01-28T10:51:00.001-08:00

“Christmas is approaching. You must clean the house well,” said Jack to his wife. The silly wife thought that Christmas must be a man. “Are you Christmas?” she asked all the people passing by. One wily person, who was going down the street, said that his name was Christmas. The silly wife gave him everything inside the house. When her husband came to know of this, he was very angry.
“Be careful this time. Keep the pig for Christmas,” warned Jack. The stupid woman called the man who called himself Christmas and gave him the pig. When her husband came home and asked her about the pig, she said, “But you told me to give it to Christmas!” He held his head in despair and vowed never to say anything to her.

The Cabbage

2012-01-28T10:50:00.002-08:00

One day, two boys, Tom and Harry, were passing by a garden. They saw a big cabbage and Tom boasted, “I once saw a cabbage bigger than this.” Harry promptly replied, “That must have been huge. Once I made a pot bigger than the church.” Tom was puzzled. “Why?” he asked. “To boil your cabbage,” replied Harry. Tom was ashamed and realised that he must not tell lies.

Fishermen story

2012-01-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

Two men went fishing. One was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn’t. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.
The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing the man waste good fish. “Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?” he asked.
The inexperienced fisherman replied, “I only have a small frying pan.”
Sometimes, like that fisherman,
we throw back the big plans, big dreams, big jobs, big opportunities that God gives us.
Our faith is too small.
We laugh at that fisherman who didn’t figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan,
yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith?
Whether it’s a problem or a possibility,
God will never give you anything bigger than you can handle.
That means we can confidently walk into anything God brings our way.

REMEMBER:
Stop telling God you’ve got big problems.
Tell your problems you’ve got a BIG GOD!

The Man with the Coconuts

2012-01-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

One day a man who had been to gather his coconuts loaded his horse heavily with the fruit. On the way home he met a boy whom he asked how long it would take to reach the house.
“If you go slowly,” said the boy, looking at the load on the horse, “you will arrive very soon; but if you go fast, it will take you all day.”
The man could not believe this strange speech, so he hurried his horse. But the coconuts fell off and he had to stop to pick them up. Then he hurried his horse all the more to make up for lost time, but the coconuts fell off again. Many time he did this, and it was night when he reached home.

Source: Mabel Cook Cole, Philippine Folk Tales (Chicago: A. C. McClurg, 1916), p. 88.

The Naughty Clock Winder

2012-01-28T10:47:00.001-08:00

The king of Elfland had a large collection of clocks. An elf called Dickory Dock had to wind them up every day. Dickory Dock was a forgetful elf So the king gave Dickory Dock an enchanted key and said. “Now you don’t have to use many different keys. You can wind up all the clocks with this key. In fact, it can wind up anything.”
Alas! Dickory Dock would still forget to wind the clocks. The furious king punished him severely. The naughty elf decided to teach the king a lesson. He wound up all the furniture in the castle! Soon all the chairs and books were dancing. “Mercy on its! This must be Dickory Dock’s doing. Fetch him!” exclaimed the king. He wound Dickory Dock up with the magic key and banished him from the kingdom. And so he goes dancing around to this day.

Hole in the Water

2012-01-28T10:46:00.001-08:00

A handsome and rich man decided to get married but could not find the right girl.
One day, he met a beautiful lady near a well and fell in love with her. He asked her if she would marry him. She replied. I will marry you but only if you can do one thing. You must make a hole in the water for me!” -That is impossible!” cried the man. She said, “if this is true love. then even miracles can happen.” The man walked away sadly. He really did love the woman but didn’t know how he could make a hole in the water.
Months passed and soon it was winter. All the lakes and ponds, and the water in the well. froze.
Then the man remembered what the woman had asked for. He quickly ran to the well where he had met her and saw her sitting there. lie took a stick and made a hole in the ice. The woman was pleased and agreed to marry him. Fie married her with a lot of pomp and splendour.

The White Squash

2012-01-28T10:45:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there lived a poor couple. They were very sad because they had no children. They always prayed to God to bless them with a child.
The couple was so poor that they hardly had much to eat. They lived on the big white squashes that grew in their garden. But one season. the vine stopped bearing fruits. A lot of flowers bloomed on it but they did not turn into fruits.
One day, the woman was very happy to see a small green squash. After a few days. it ripened and they decided to cut it. As they put the knife in a small voice said, -BL careful!” When they carefully cut the squash they found a small boy in it. The couple was very happy.
The woman took the boy and bathed him with water. But to their astonishment. the water turned into gold as soon as it touched the boy. They realized that the boy was special and they were never poor again.

A Mouse Wedding

2012-01-28T10:42:00.001-08:00

Little Johnny was fast asleep when the Sleep Fairy woke him up and said, “Quick! Get dressed! We are going to the mouse’s wedding!”
“Whooosh!” The Sleep Fairy turned Johnny into a tiny boy with a touch of her magic wand. He wore a tin soldier’s uniform and went for the wedding. “Cheesecakes and cheese candies! Even the walls are made of cheese!” squealed Johnny. Even the bride and the groom sat on a cheese couch. All the guests threw pumpkin seeds at the couple instead of rice. They sang and danced to songs about cheese. Little Johnny enjoyed himself and had a wonderful time all night. “Wake up, dear! Time for school.” said Mummy. Little Johnny realised that it had all been a nice dream. Sleep Fairy’s little dream.

The Ice Cream Cart

2012-01-28T10:41:00.001-08:00

Anne was a poor girl who lived with her mother. Every day, an ice cream man would pass by her house but she had no money with which to buy one. She would look at other children licking large cones of ice cream and wish she could also be one of them.
One day, the ice cream man took pity on her and gave her the whole ice cream cart. He said. “This is a magic cart. You can ask it to make any kind of ice cream. But when you want it to stop. you must say, ‘Enough now’.'* Anne was very happy; she ate ice cream all day.
One day, while she was away at school, her mother asked the cart to make some ice cream. The cart started doing so. But Anne’s mother did not know how to stop it, so the cart went on making ice cream.
Soon, the whole house was filled with ice cream. When Anne returned and saw ice cream everywhere. she had to lick tier way to the cart and stop it!

Sly’s Ice Cream

2012-01-28T10:40:00.003-08:00

Sly the Gnome was walking behind Mr. Wisdom, the wise man. “Clink!” A shining one-pound coin fell out of Mr. Wisdom’s pocket and rolled down the street. Sly picked it up and slipped it into his pocket. He knew that was stealing, but then he was a mean gnome. Walking on he found a group of children crowding round a man. “Why are you all so excited?- he asked. One of the children said, “Oh, don’t you know? It’s the ice cream man. Here, try some ice cream.” Sly took a bite. “Umm . . .” He loved the sweet delicious taste. “Can I get some for a pound?” he asked. “You can get a whole box for a pound,” said the children.
Selfish Sly thought, “I will have it for my tea and won’t share it with anyone.” He paid for the box of ice cream with Mr. Wisdom’s coin and happily whistled as he set off for home.
The day was hot. As Sly walked home, the ice cream began to melt. Slowly it started dripping from a corner of the box. He couldn’t understand what was happening. He peered into the box and saw there was no ice cream. In its place was some cold yellow liquid. “Where is my ice cream?” he cried out loud. He thought the ice cream man had cheated I him. can’t eat this,” fie shouted angrily and flung the box away from him. “Splat!” The box land on Mr. Wisdom who was just turning round the corner! “Oho! I’ll teach you some manners, my boy!” said Mr. Wisdom, wiping the ice cream from his face. He grabbed Sly and gave him a good spanking. Crying, Sly ran home promising never to steal again.

The Two Candles

2012-01-28T10:40:00.001-08:00

Once a wax candle and a tallow candle were having a conversation. The wax candle was very vain and boasted, “I will be placed in a silver candle stand at tonight’s party.” The tallow candle answered, “It is certainly better to be made of wax than of tallow but I am happy that I burn in the kitchen where food is cooked.”
Suddenly, a rich lady came and picked up all the candles. Seeing the tallow candle along with the wax candle, the lady gave it to a poor boy who was passing by.
The poor boy took the tallow candle home. Seeing the small cottage. the tallow candle thought, “How lucky the wax candle is to be in its rich home.”
Meanwhile, the mother lit the tallow candle. One of the children said, “Oh, we have light in the house today!” The tallow candle saw the joy in his eyes and was happy to be in the cottage and did not envy the wax candle again.

The First Monkey

2012-01-28T10:39:00.001-08:00

Once there lived an old woman and her grandson in a hut. The old woman worked hard to feed her grandson and herself but her grandson was a lazy boy. He did not help her in her work and took her money and spent it all on his friends.
One day, he came home hungry. “Where is my food?” he demanded. Alas! The food was not ready. He became angry and finding coconuts lying on the ground, threw them at his grandmother. “Food’ Food! Food!” he chanted stamping his foot. The good behaviour fairy was passing by. “I’ll teach this boy manners!” she thought. She waved her magic wand and whoosh . . . the boy turned into a furry animal with a long tail. When his friends saw him they threw stories at him. Lo! They too turned into animals. The people drove them out of the town.
The boy and his friends then began living on trees and came to be known as monkeys.

The Coachman’s Painting

2012-01-28T10:38:00.001-08:00

A coachman who served in the king’s palace was also a talented artist. His paintings looked real and alive. Once he painted a portrait of his sister. The painting was so beautiful and life like that he kept it in the royal stable. And whenever he felt sad and lonely. the coachman would talk to the painting. People thought that a woman visited him every night. When the king heard about this he decided to find out the truth for himself. One night. he visited the stable. When he saw the painting, the king fell in love with the beautiful woman. He asked the coachman who it was. He was charmed by the coachman’s sister’s beauty and married her amidst pomp and splendour. The coachman moved into the palace and they lived happily ever after.

King Midas

2012-01-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

King Midas was a very greedy king. Even though he was very rich he always craved for more and more.
One day, he called his court magician and commanded, -Find me a spell that can get me more treasures than I already have.” The magician said, “Your majesty, I can give you a power that no one else in this world has. Anything that you touch will turn into gold’- The king was delighted with his good fortune. Everything he touched turned into gold. He turned trees, grass, tables, chairs, flowers, and vases into gold. He thought that he must be the richest man in the world.
But in the evening, when he sat down for supper, King Midas was dismayed. His food turned into gold the moment he touched it and he had to go
to bed without any food! However, King Midas was too greedy to be sad about it.
The next morning, the king’s daughter ran to hug her father. But alas! The minute she kissed him, she turned into a gold statue! King Midas, who loved his daughter very much. was very sad and he ran to the
magician for help. He cried, “Please help me, 0 Magician! I don’t want to be rich anymore. I only want my beloved daughter back.” The magician changed everything back to normal.
King Midas had learnt his lesson and was never greedy again.

Honest John

2012-01-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

John was a poor woodcutter. His axe was most precious to him. One day, he went to the forest to chop some wood. He was sitting on a high branch on the rⁱverside when suddenly there was a strong wind, and his axe slipped and fell into the river.
The poor woodcutter did not know what to do. He sat by the riverside and started crying. Just then, a river fairy appeared before him. She asked him, “Why are you so sad?”
John told her that he had lost his only axe. The fairy dived into the river and brought out a silver axe. She said, “Here is your axe!” But John said, “It’s not mine! I can’t take it!” The fairy dived again and brought a golden axe. Again John said, “It’s not mine!” The fairy now dived and brought the old iron axe. When John saw it, he said excitedly, “This is my axe!”
The fairy was touched by John’s honesty and gave him all the three axes. Now John was rich and lived happily ever after.

Unity Is Strength

2012-01-28T10:33:00.001-08:00

Once, an old man was very ill and lay dying in his bed. He had four sons who were always fighting with each other. He always worried about them and wanted to teach them a lesson and asked his sons to come to him. When they came, the old man gave them a bundle of sticks and said, “Can you break these sticks?”
The first son tried to break the bundle but nothing happened. He tried very hard and finally gave up. Then it was the turn of the second son to try his luck. He thought it would be an easy task and picked up the sticks easily. He tried his best to break the sticks but nothing happened. Then, the third son tried to break the bundle of sticks, but he couldn’t do anything either.
Meanwhile, the youngest son jeered at his brothers and thought they were very incompetent. He thought he was very clever and took one stick at a time and easily broke all of them.
The old father then smiled at his sons and said, “Children, do you understand what happened? It is always easy to break the sticks one by one. But when they are bundled to‑ gether, none of you could break them. In the same way. you four brothers should always be together. No one will be able to hurt you then.” The four brothers realised what their father was trying to teach them and forgot all their enmity and learnt that unity is strength.
From that day onwards, they never fought with each other and lived together in peace and harmony.

The Little Lost Hedgehog

2012-01-28T10:32:00.001-08:00

On a bright sunny day, Mrs. Hedgehog and her family of ten young hedgehogs helped each other wash clothes. Then they all sat on the grassy bank to have cool lemonade and biscuits. Mrs. Hedgehog thought, “How lucky I am to have such wonderful children.” Suddenly, she realised that Baby Hedgehog was missing. Everyone started looking in the house, in the garden, in the woods, but Baby Hedgehog could not be seen. Mrs. Hedgehog began to cry and the others cried after her. Losing hope, she picked up her hat. But to her astonishment, she found Baby Hedgehog fast asleep inside the hat. All the hedgehogs were happy to find Baby Hedgehog and cheered in joy. Their friends who lived nearby heard the noise and came out to share their joy too.

Who Will Bell the Cat?

2012-01-28T10:31:00.002-08:00

There was a certain cat that was troubling the mice and had killed many of them. All the mice met to talk about this big problem. The mice wanted to get rid of the cat and decided to make a plan. The mice sat and talked for a very long time but could not come to any conclusion.
An old mouse stood up and said, “I know what we should do! We should tie a bell around the cat’s neck. When the bell tinkles, we will know where the cat is!” All the other mice liked the idea. But one young mouse stood up and asked, “That is a good idea, but may I ask who will bell the cat?” None of the mice wanted to do that. The young mouse then said, “It is easy to sit and have big ideas. But it is never easy to carry them out.”

The Lion and the Mouse

2012-01-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

A little mouse was passing through a lion’s den. The lion caught him and was about to smash him when the little mouse spoke, “Sir, please let me go, and I will do you a good turn one day, for sparing my life.”
The lion was rather amused to hear this, thinking, “What good can he do me. . . ” but he let him go.
Two weeks later, some huntsmen came to the same forest and spread a net around
the lion’s den. The lion was captured. He struggled hard to set himself free but he soon realised he was trapped. He roared with anger.
The little mouse was looking for food, when he heard the lion’s roar. He ran to him. Seeing the lion caught in the net, he started gnawing at it at once. The mouse had sharp teeth and he soon freed the lion.
The lion was very grateful to the little mouse. From that day, they became the best of friends.

Queen of Riddles

2012-01-28T10:29:00.000-08:00

A clever queen who lived in Petersburg was very vain. “I am good at everything. Isn’t there anyone who can beat me?” she thought to herself. One day she announced, “I, the queen, will marry the man who asks me three riddles which I cannot answer.” Many people came from far and wide and tried their luck, but failed.
Finally, young Ivan, a peasant from the neighboring village, came up with three riddles and set off for the queen’s palace. He asked the first riddle: “I saw one good thing with another good thing in it. In order to do good, I took the second good thing out of the first good thing.”
The queen did not know the answer. She made an excuse saying, “I have a headache,” and left. Later in the night, she asked her maidservant to coax out the answer from Ivan. The maid did as she was told. The next day, when Ivan appeared the queen said, “Here’s the answer: A horse was in a wheat field and I chased it out.”
Ivan asked his second riddle “On the road I saw a bad thing. I took up a second bad thing and hit it. So one bad thing killed another bad thing.” The queen again did not know the answer. She sent her maid to coax the answer out of Ivan again. When Ivan came in the morning she said, “I saw a snake on the road and killed it with a stick.” Ivan then asked his third riddle. “How did you know the answers to the first two riddles?”
The queen did not want to admit that she had cheated. “I don’t know,” she replied. Ivan married the queen and they lived happily ever after.

The Greedy Dog

2012-01-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, there lived a dog. One day, he was very hungry and went in search of food. To his delight, the dog found a juicy bone. The dog happily carried the bone back home. He held the bone tightly in his mouth and scowled at anyone who tried to take it away.
On his way home, he had to cross a bridge. While crossing the bridge, the dog saw his reflection in the water below. The foolish dog thought there
was another dog in the water, holding another juicy bone. The greedy dog wanted to have that bone too. He growled and barked at his own reflection in the water. “I’ll get that bone too,” thought the greedy dog, and he snapped his sharp teeth and barked at his reflection in the water.
But alas! The moment the foolish dog opened his mouth to snap his teeth, the piece of bone fell into the stream. The dog lost his bone and had to go home, hungry.

Tom Thumb

2012-01-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

Once, a farmer and his wife had their first child after many years of marriage. The boy was as small as his father’s thumb. The queen of fairies came dancing and named him Tom Thumb.
One day, while Tom’s mother was making pudding, Tom, who was playing nearby, slipped inside the bowl and was drowned in the batter. He started kicking and thrashing to save himself. The movement in the pudding scared his
mother, who was unable to see Tom inside. She gave the batter away to a beggar, who later discovered little Tom inside. Tom came back from the beggar’s house and told his parents all that had happened and his mother felt very sorry for what she had done.
A few days later, a raven picked up little Tom and dropped him in the sea. A magnificent fish swallowed him. After a while, some fishermen caught the fish and gave it to King Arthur’s servants. When the servants cut the fish,
they were surprised to see Tom inside and presented him to King Arthur. The king was delighted and kept Tom who entertained everyone with his funny tricks. Later, Tom was knighted and became Sir Thomas Thumb.
One day, the queen of fairies took Tom to fairyland but by the time he returned, King Arthur and all his knights had died. Tom stayed with the new king in his palace and continued to entertain everyone with his tricks for a long time to come.

The Ungrateful Master

2012-01-28T10:21:00.001-08:00

There once lived a donkey, which was very faithful to its master. Although it was under-fed and weak it still carried the entire load its master put on him each day. The donkey was moving about one day, when it fell into a big ditch where people threw garbage. The donkey couldn’t come out. The master felt the animal was old and useless and left it to its fate. But, the donkey thrived on the food that people threw in the ditch.
One morning, the master and his son were walking by, when they heard the donkey braying. The master tired to peep into the ditch and in the process lost his footing. He called out to his son for help, but the stench was so bad, that the young boy left his father, telling him that he did not want to fall in too. The master realized his mistake. A few rag-pickers nearby, happened to hear the man’s cry for help. Soon they pulled him out. He requested them to help him pull out the donkey too. In no time both master and the donkey were on their way back home.
My Prayer: Lord, let me never be an ungrateful person.

Clever Elsie

2012-01-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

Clever Elsie was a silly girl. One day, a man called Hans came to their house and said that he would marry Her, if she proved that she was really smart. Elsie was sent to the cellar to fetch beer. While filling the pitcher, she saw an axe above her.
Clever Elsie began weeping loudly. The maid was sent to bring her back. “Why are you weeping?” she asked Elsie. “If I marry Hans and if our child comes to this cellar and the axe falls on my child then he will die!” sobbed Elsie and wept more and more. Hearing her, the maid too started weeping loudly. The same thing happened with Elsie’s parents.
When Hans heard everyone crying and came to enquire what had happened, he heard the story and was convinced of Elsie’s cleverness and married her.
After a few days, Clever Elsie went to the field to cut corn. But soon, she felt tired and went off to sleep under a tree.
In the evening, Hans saw her sleeping in the field. He put a fowler’s net upon her, which had little bells attached to it. But Clever Elsie still did not wake up.
At night Elsie finally woke up. “Why are bells ringing?” she wondered in alarm. “Who is this person in the net?” she thought wondering whether it really was her. When she knocked on her door and asked if Elsie was inside, the answer was yes. Oh, that meant she was not Elsie! Clever Elsie ran away from the village and was never ever seen again.