The Boy Who Cried Wolf

A shepherd-boy, who watched a flock of sheep near a village, brought out the villagers three or
four times by crying out, "Wolf! Wolf!" and when his neighbors came to help him, laughed at
them for their pains.
The Wolf, however, did truly come at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in
an agony of terror: "Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep"; but no one paid
any heed to his cries, nor rendered any assistance. The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his
leisure lacerated or destroyed the whole flock.
There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.
top
The Frog Prince
One fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, and went out to take a walk by
herself in a wood; and when she came to a cool spring of water with a rose in the middle of it,
she sat herself down to rest a while. Now she had a golden ball in her hand, which was her
favourite plaything; and she was always tossing it up into the air, and catching it again as it fell.
After a time she threw it up so high that she missed catching it as it fell; and the ball
bounded away, and rolled along on the ground, until at last it fell down into the spring. The
princess looked into the spring after her ball, but it was very deep, so deep that she could not
see the bottom of it. She began to cry, and said, 'Alas! if I could only get my ball again, I would
give all my fine clothes and jewels, and everything that I have in the world.'
Whilst she was speaking, a frog put its head out of the water, and said, 'Princess, why do you
weep so bitterly?'
'Alas!' said she, 'what can you do for me, you nasty frog? My golden ball has fallen into the
spring.'
The frog said, 'I do not want your pearls, and jewels, and fine clothes; but if you will love me,
and let me live with you and eat from off your golden plate, and sleep on your bed, I will bring
you your ball again.'
'What nonsense,' thought the princess, 'this silly frog is talking! He can never even get out of
the spring to visit me, though he may be able to get my ball for me, and therefore I will tell him
he shall have what he asks.'
So she said to the frog, 'Well, if you will bring me my ball, I will do all you ask.'
Then the frog put his head down, and dived deep under the water; and after a little while he
came up again, with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the edge of the spring.
< 2 >
As soon as the young princess saw her ball, she ran to pick it up; and she was so overjoyed
to have it in her hand again, that she never thought of the frog, but ran home with it as fast as
she could.
The frog called after her, 'Stay, princess, and take me with you as you said,'
But she did not stop to hear a word.
The next day, just as the princess had sat down to dinner, she heard a strange noise - tap,
tap - plash, plash - as if something was coming up the marble staircase, and soon afterwards
there was a gentle knock at the door, and a little voice cried out and said:

'Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'

Then the princess ran to the door and opened it, and there she saw the frog, whom she had
quite forgotten. At this sight she was sadly frightened, and shutting the door as fast as she could
came back to her seat.
The king, her father, seeing that something had frightened her, asked her what was the
matter.
'There is a nasty frog,' said she, 'at the door, that lifted my ball for me out of the spring this
morning. I told him that he should live with me here, thinking that he could never get out of the
spring; but there he is at the door, and he wants to come in.'
While she was speaking the frog knocked again at the door, and said:

'Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
< 3 >
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'

Then the king said to the young princess, 'As you have given your word you must keep it; so
go and let him in.'
She did so, and the frog hopped into the room, and then straight on - tap, tap - plash, plash -
from the bottom of the room to the top, till he came up close to the table where the princess sat.
'Pray lift me upon chair,' said he to the princess, 'and let me sit next to you.'
As soon as she had done this, the frog said, 'Put your plate nearer to me, that I may eat out
of it.'
This she did, and when he had eaten as much as he could, he said, 'Now I am tired; carry me
upstairs, and put me into your bed.' And the princess, though very unwilling, took him up in her
hand, and put him upon the pillow of her own bed, where he slept all night long.
As soon as it was light the frog jumped up, hopped downstairs, and went out of the house.
'Now, then,' thought the princess, 'at last he is gone, and I shall be troubled with him no
more.'
But she was mistaken; for when night came again she heard the same tapping at the door;
and the frog came once more, and said:

'Open the door, my princess dear,
Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.'

And when the princess opened the door the frog came in, and slept upon her pillow as before,
till the morning broke. And the third night he did the same. But when the princess awoke on the
following morning she was astonished to see, instead of the frog, a handsome prince, gazing on
her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen and standing at the head of her bed.
< 4 >
He told her that he had been enchanted by a spiteful fairy, who had changed him into a frog;
and that he had been fated so to abide till some princess should take him out of the spring, and
let him eat from her plate, and sleep upon her bed for three nights.
'You,' said the prince, 'have broken his cruel charm, and now I have nothing to wish for but
that you should go with me into my father's kingdom, where I will marry you, and love you as
long as you live.'
The young princess, you may be sure, was not long in saying 'Yes' to all this; and as they
spoke a brightly coloured coach drove up, with eight beautiful horses, decked with plumes of
feathers and a golden harness; and behind the coach rode the prince's servant, faithful Heinrich,
who had bewailed the misfortunes of his dear master during his enchantment so long and so
bitterly, that his heart had well-nigh burst.
They then took leave of the king, and got into the coach with eight horses, and all set out,
full of joy and merriment, for the prince's kingdom, which they reached safely; and there they
lived happily a great many years.
top
High and Lifted Up
It was a windy day.
The mailman barely made it to the front door. When the door opened, Mrs. Pennington said,
"hello", but, before she had a real chance to say "thank you", the mail blew out of the mailman's
hands, into the house and the front door slammed in his face. Mrs. Pennington ran to pick up the
mail.
"Oh my," she said.
Tommy was watching the shutters open and then shut, open and then shut.
"Mom," he said, "may I go outside?"
"Be careful," she said. "It's so windy today."
Tommy crawled down from the window-seat and ran to the door. He opened it with a bang.
The wind blew fiercely and snatched the newly recovered mail from Mrs. Pennington's hands and
blew it even further into the house.
"Oh my," she said again. Tommy ran outside and the door slammed shut.
Outside, yellow, gold, and red leaves were leaping from swaying trees, landing on the roof,
jumping off the roof, and then chasing one another down the street in tiny whirlwinds of
merriment.
Tommy watched in fascination.
"If I was a leaf, I would fly clear across the world," Tommy thought and then ran out into the
yard among the swirl of colors.
Mrs. Pennington came to the front porch.
"Tommy, I have your jacket. Please put it on."
However, there was no Tommy in the front yard.
"Tommy?"
Tommy was a leaf. He was blowing down the street with the rest of his play-mates.
A maple leaf came close-by, touched him and moved ahead. Tommy met him shortly,
brushed against him, and moved further ahead. They swirled around and around, hit cars and
poles, flew up into the air and then down again.
< 2 >
"This is fun," Tommy thought.
The maple leaf blew in front of him. It was bright red with well-defined veins. The sun-light
shone through it giving it a brilliance never before seen by a little boy's eyes.
"Where do you think we are going?" Tommy asked the leaf.
"Does it matter?" the leaf replied. "Have fun. Life is short."
"I beg to differ," an older leaf said suddenly coming beside them. "The journey may be short,
but the end is the beginning."
Tommy pondered this the best a leaf could ponder.
"Where do we end up?"
"If the wind blows you in that direction," the old leaf said, "you will end up in the city dump."
"I don't want that," Tommy said.
"If you are blown in that direction, you will fly high into the air and see things that no leaf has
seen before."
"Follow me to the city dump," the maple leaf said. "Most of my friends are there."
The wind blew Tommy and the maple leaf along. Tommy thought of his choices. He wanted to
continue to play.
"Okay," Tommy said, "I will go with you to the dump."
The winds shifted and Tommy and the leaf were blown in the direction of the city dump.
The old leaf didn't follow. He was blown further down the block and suddenly lifted up high
into the air.
"Hey," he called out, "the sights up here. They are spectacular. Come and see."
< 3 >
Tommy and the maple leaf ignored him.
"I see something. I see the dump." The old leaf cried out. "I see smoke. Come up here. I see
fire."
"I see nothing," the maple leaf said.
Tommy saw the fence that surrounded the city dump. He was happy to be with his friend.
They would have fun in the dump.
Suddenly, a car pulled up. It was Tommy's mom. Mrs. Pennington wasn't about to let her
little boy run into the city dump.
"Not so fast," she said getting out of the car. "You are not allowed to play in there. Don't you
see the smoke?"
Tommy watched the maple leaf blow against the wall and struggle to get over. He ran over to
get it but was unable to reach it.
Mrs. Pennington walked over and took the leaf. She put it in her pocket.
"There," she said, "it will be safe until we get home."
Tommy smiled, ran to the car and got in. He rolled down the back window and looked up into
the sky. He wondered where the old leaf had gone. Perhaps one day he would see what the old
leaf had seen - perhaps.
top
Mr Sticky
No one knew how Mr. Sticky got in the fish tank.
"He's very small," Mum said as she peered at the tiny water snail. "Just a black dot."
"He'll grow," said Abby and pulled her pyjama bottoms up again before she got into bed.
They were always falling down.

In the morning Abby jumped out of bed and switched on the light in her fish tank.
Gerry, the fat orange goldfish, was dozing inside the stone archway. Jaws was already
awake, swimming along the front of the tank with his white tail floating and twitching. It took
Abby a while to find Mr. Sticky because he was clinging to the glass near the bottom, right next
to the gravel.
At school that day she wrote about the mysterious Mr. Sticky who was so small you could
mistake him for a piece of gravel. Some of the girls in her class said he seemed an ideal pet for
her and kept giggling about it.
That night Abby turned on the light to find Mr. Sticky clinging to the very tiniest, waviest tip
of the pond weed. It was near the water filter so he was bobbing about in the air bubbles.
"That looks fun," Abby said. She tried to imagine what it must be like to have to hang on to
things all day and decided it was probably very tiring. She fed the fish then lay on her bed and
watched them chase each other round and round the archway. When they stopped Gerry began
nibbling at the pond weed with his big pouty lips. He sucked Mr. Sticky into his mouth then blew
him back out again in a stream of water. The snail floated down to the bottom of the tank among
the coloured gravel.

"I think he's grown a bit," Abby told her Mum at breakfast the next day.
< 2 >
"Just as well if he's going to be gobbled up like that," her Mum said, trying to put on her coat
and eat toast at the same time.
"But I don't want him to get too big or he won't be cute anymore. Small things are cute
aren't they?"
"Yes they are. But big things can be cute too. Now hurry up, I'm going to miss my train."

At school that day, Abby drew an elephant. She needed two pieces of expensive paper to do both
ends but the teacher didn't mind because she was pleased with the drawing and wanted it on the
wall. They sellotaped them together, right across the elephant's middle. In the corner of the
picture, Abby wrote her full name, Abigail, and drew tiny snails for the dots on the 'i's The
teacher said that was very creative.
At the weekend they cleaned out the tank. "There's a lot of algae on the sides," Mum said.
"I'm not sure Mr. Sticky's quite up to the job yet."
They scooped the fish out and put them in a bowl while they emptied some of the water. Mr.
Sticky stayed out of the way, clinging to the glass while Mum used the special 'vacuum cleaner'
to clean the gravel. Abby trimmed the new pieces of pond weed down to size and scrubbed the
archway and the filter tube. Mum poured new water into the tank.
"Where's Mr. Sticky?" Abby asked.
"On the side," Mum said. She was busy concentrating on the water. "Don't worry I was
careful."
Abby looked on all sides of the tank. There was no sign of the water snail.
"He's probably in the gravel then," her mum said. "Come on let's get this finished. I've got
work to do." She plopped the fish back in the clean water where they swam round and round,
looking puzzled.
< 3 >
That evening Abby went up to her bedroom to check the tank. The water had settled and looked
lovely and clear but there was no sign of Mr. Sticky. She lay on her bed and did some exercises,
stretching out her legs and feet and pointing her toes. Stretching was good for your muscles and
made you look tall a model had said on the t.v. and she looked enormous. When Abby had
finished, she kneeled down to have another look in the tank but there was still no sign of Mr.
Sticky. She went downstairs.

Her mum was in the study surrounded by papers. She had her glasses on and her hair was all
over the place where she'd been running her hands through it. She looked impatient when she
saw Abby in the doorway and even more impatient when she heard the bad news.
"He'll turn up." was all she said. "Now off to bed Abby. I've got masses of work to catch up
on."
Abby felt her face go hot and red. It always happened when she was angry or upset.
"You've hoovered him up haven't you," she said. You were in such a rush you hoovered him
up."
"I have not. I was very careful. But he is extremely small."
"What's wrong with being small?"
"Nothing at all. But it makes things hard to find."
"Or notice," Abby said and ran from the room.

The door to the bedroom opened and Mum's face appeared around the crack. Abby tried to
ignore her but it was hard when she walked over to the bed and sat next to her. She was holding
her glasses in her hand. She waved them at Abby.
"These are my new pair," she said. "Extra powerful, for snail hunting." She smiled at Abby.
Abby tried not to smile back.
< 4 >
"And I've got a magnifying glass," Abby suddenly remembered and rushed off to find it.
They sat beside each other on the floor. On their knees they shuffled around the tank,
peering into the corners among the big pebbles, at the gravel and the pondweed.
"Ah ha!" Mum suddenly cried.
"What?" Abby moved her magnifying glass to where her mum was pointing.
There, tucked in the curve of the archway, perfectly hidden against the dark stone, sat Mr.
Sticky. And right next to him was another water snail, even smaller than him.
"Mrs Sticky!" Abby breathed. "But where did she come from?"
"I'm beginning to suspect the pond weed don't you think?"
They both laughed and climbed into Abby's bed together, cuddling down under the duvet. It
was cozy but a bit of a squeeze.
"Budge up," Mum said, giving Abby a push with her bottom.
"I can't, I'm already on the edge."
"My goodness you've grown then. When did that happen? You could have put an elephant in
here last time we did this."
Abby put her head on her mum's chest and smiled.
top
King Grisly-Beard
A great king of a land far away in the East had a daughter who was very beautiful, but so proud
and haughty and conceited, that none of the princes who came to ask for her hand in marriage
was good enough for her. All she ever did was make fun of them.
Once upon a time the king held a great feast and invited all her suitors. They all sat in a row,
ranged according to their rank -- kings and princes and dukes and earls and counts and barons
and knights. When the princess came in, as she passed by them, she had something spiteful to
say to each one.
The first was too fat: 'He's as round as a tub,' she said.
The next was too tall: 'What a maypole!' she said.
The next was too short: 'What a dumpling!' she said.
The fourth was too pale, and she called him 'Wallface.'
The fifth was too red, so she called him 'Coxcomb.'
The sixth was not straight enough; so she said he was like a green stick that had been laid to
dry over a baker's oven. She had some joke to crack about every one. But she laughed most of
all at a good king who was there.
'Look at him,' she said; 'his beard is like an old mop; he shall be called Grisly-beard.' So the
king got the nickname of Grisly-beard.
But the old king was very angry when he saw how his daughter behaved and how badly she
treated all his guests. He vowed that, willing or unwilling, she would marry the first man that
came to the door.
Two days later a travelling fiddler came by the castle. He began to play under the window
and begged for money and when the king heard him, he said, 'Let him come in.'
< 2 >
So, they brought the dirty-looking fellow in and, when he had sung before the king and the
princess, he begged for a gift.
The king said, 'You have sung so well that I will give you my daughter to take as your wife.'
The princess begged and prayed; but the king said, 'I have sworn to give you to the first man
who came to the door, and I will keep my word.'
Words and tears were to no avail; the parson was sent for, and she was married to the
fiddler.
When this was over, the king said, 'Now get ready to leave -- you must not stay here -- you
must travel with your husband.'
So the fiddler left the castle, and took the princess with him.
Soon they came to a great wood.
'Pray,' she said, 'whose is this wood?'
'It belongs to King Grisly-beard,' he answered; 'hadst thou taken him, all would have been
thine.'
'Ah! unlucky wretch that I am!' she sighed; 'would that I had married King Grisly-beard!'
Next they came to some fine meadows.
'Whose are these beautiful green meadows?' she said.
'They belong to King Grisly-beard, hadst thou taken him, they would all have been thine.'
'Ah! unlucky wretch that I am!' she said; 'would that I had married King Grisly-beard!'
Then they came to a great city. 'Whose is this noble city?' she said.
'It belongs to King Grisly-beard; hadst thou taken him, it would all have been thine.'
< 3 >
'Ah! wretch that I am!' she sighed; 'why did I not marry King Grisly-beard?'
'That is no business of mine,' said the fiddler, 'why should you wish for another husband? Am
I not good enough for you?'
At last they came to a small cottage. 'What a paltry place!' she said; 'to whom does that little
dirty hole belong?'
The fiddler said, 'That is your and my house, where we are to live.'
'Where are your servants?' she cried.
'What do we want with servants?' he said; 'you must do for yourself whatever is to be done.
Now make the fire, and put on water and cook my supper, for I am very tired.'
But the princess knew nothing of making fires and cooking, and the fiddler was forced to help
her.
When they had eaten a very scanty meal they went to bed; but the fiddler called her up very
early in the morning to clean the house.
They lived like that for two days and when they had eaten up all there was in the cottage, the
man said, 'Wife, we can't go on thus, spending money and earning nothing. You must learn to
weave baskets.'
Then the fiddler went out and cut willows, and brought them home, and she began to weave;
but it made her fingers very sore.
'I see this work won't do,' he said, 'try and spin; perhaps you will do that better.'
So she sat down and tried to spin; but the threads cut her tender fingers until the blood ran.
'See now,' said the fiddler, 'you are good for nothing; you can do no work. What a bargain I
have got! However, I'll try and set up a trade in pots and pans, and you shall stand in the market
and sell them.'
< 4 >
'Alas!' she sighed, 'if any of my father's court should pass by and see me standing in the
market, how they will laugh at me!'
But her husband did not care about that, and said she would have to work if she did not want
to die of hunger.
At first the trade went well because many people, seeing such a beautiful woman, went to
buy her wares and paid their money without even thinking of taking away the goods. They lived
on this as long as it lasted and then her husband bought a fresh lot of pots and pans, and she
sat herself down with it in the corner of the market.
However, soon a drunken soldier soon came by and rode his horse against her stall and broke
all her goods into a thousand pieces.
She began to cry, and did not know what to do. 'Ah! what will become of me?' she said;
'what will my husband say?' So she ran home and told him everything.
'Who would have thought you would have been so silly,' he said, 'as to put an earthenware
stall in the corner of the market, where everybody passes? But let us have no more crying; I see
you are not fit for this sort of work, so I have been to the king's palace, and asked if they did not
want a kitchen-maid; and they say they will take you, and there you will have plenty to eat.'
So the princess became a kitchen-maid and helped the cook to do all the dirtiest work. She
was allowed to carry home some of the meat that was left over, and they lived on that.
She had not been there long before she heard that the king's eldest son was passing by, on
his way to get married. She went to one of the windows and looked out. Everything was ready
and all the pomp and brightness of the court was there. Seeing it, she grieved bitterly for the
pride and folly that had brought her so low. The servants gave her some of the rich meats and
she put them into her basket to take home.
< 5 >
All of a sudden, as she was leaving, in came the king's son in his golden clothes. When he
saw such a beautiful woman at the door, he took her by the hand and said she should be his
partner in the dance. She trembled with fear because she saw that it was King Grisly-beard, who
was making fun of her. However, he kept hold of her, and led her into the hall. As she entered,
the cover of the basket came off, and the meats in it fell out. Everybody laughed and jeered at
her and she was so ashamed that she wished she were a thousand feet deep in the earth. She
sprang over to the door so that she could run away but on the steps King Grisly-beard overtook
her, brought her back and said:
'Fear me not! I am the fiddler who has lived with you in the hut. I brought you there because
I truly loved you. I am also the soldier that overset your stall. I have done all this only to cure
you of your silly pride, and to show you the folly of your ill-treatment of me. Now it is all over:
you have learnt wisdom, and it is time to hold our marriage feast.'
Then the chamberlains came and brought her the most beautiful robes. Her father and his
whole court were already there, and they welcomed her home. Joy was in every face and every
heart. The feast was grand; they danced and sang; everyone was merry; and I only wish that
you and I had been there.
top
Little Red Riding Hood
Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but
most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the
child. Once she gave her a little riding hood of red velvet, which suited her so well that she would
never wear anything else; so she was always called 'Little Red Riding Hood.'
One day her mother said to her: 'Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a
bottle of wine; take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good.
Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the
path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing; and
when you go into her room, don't forget to say, "Good morning", and don't peep into every
corner before you do it.'
'I will take great care,' said Little Red Riding Hood to her mother, and gave her hand on it.
The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red
Riding Hood entered the wood, a wolf met her. Red Riding Hood did not know what a wicked
creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.
'Good day, Little Red Riding Hood,' said he.
'Thank you kindly, wolf.'
'Whither away so early, Little Red Riding Hood?'
'To my grandmother's.'
'What have you got in your apron?'
'Cake and wine; yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something
good, to make her stronger.'
'Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?'
'A good quarter of a league farther on in the wood; her house stands under the three large
oak-trees, the nut-trees are just below; you surely must know it,' replied Little Red Riding Hood.
< 2 >
The wolf thought to himself: 'What a tender young creature! what a nice plump mouthful -
she will be better to eat than the old woman. I must act craftily, so as to catch both.'
So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red Riding Hood, and then he said: 'See,
Little Red Riding Hood, how pretty the flowers are about here - why do you not look round? I
believe, too, that you do not hear how sweetly the little birds are singing; you walk gravely along
as if you were going to school, while everything else out here in the wood is merry.'
Little Red Riding Hood raised her eyes, and when she saw the sunbeams dancing here and
there through the trees, and pretty flowers growing everywhere, she thought: 'Suppose I take
grandmother a fresh nosegay; that would please her too. It is so early in the day that I shall still
get there in good time.'
So she ran from the path into the wood to look for flowers. And whenever she had picked
one, she fancied that she saw a still prettier one farther on, and ran after it, and so got deeper
and deeper into the wood.
Meanwhile the wolf ran straight to the grandmother's house and knocked at the door.
'Who is there?'
'Little Red Riding Hood,' replied the wolf. 'She is bringing cake and wine; open the door.'
'Lift the latch,' called out the grandmother, 'I am too weak, and cannot get up.'
The wolf lifted the latch, the door sprang open, and without saying a word he went straight to
the grandmother's bed, and devoured her. Then he put on her clothes, dressed himself in her
cap, laid himself in bed and drew the curtains.
Little Red Riding Hood, however, had been running about picking flowers, and when she had
gathered so many that she could carry no more, she remembered her grandmother, and set out
on the way to her.
< 3 >
She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, and when she went into the room,
she had such a strange feeling that she said to herself: 'Oh dear! how uneasy I feel today, and at
other times I like being with grandmother so much.' She called out: 'Good morning,' but received
no answer; so she went to the bed and drew back the curtains. There lay her grandmother with
her cap pulled far over her face, and looking very strange.
'Oh! grandmother,' she said, 'what big ears you have!'
'All the better to hear you with, my child,' was the reply.
'But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!' she said.
'All the better to see you with, my dear.'
'But, grandmother, what large hands you have!'
'All the better to hug you with.'
'Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!'
'All the better to eat you with!'
And scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up
Red Riding Hood.
When the wolf had appeased his appetite, he lay down again in the bed, fell asleep and
began to snore very loud.
The huntsman was just passing the house, and thought to himself: 'How the old woman is
snoring! I must just see if she wants anything.' So he went into the room, and when he came to
the bed, he saw that the wolf was lying in it.
'Do I find you here, you old sinner!' said he. 'I have long sought you!' But just as he was
going to fire at him, it occurred to him that the wolf might have devoured the grandmother, and
that she might still be saved, so he did not fire, but took a pair of scissors, and began to cut
open the stomach of the sleeping wolf.
< 4 >
When he had made two snips, he saw the little red riding hood shining, and then he made
two snips more, and the little girl sprang out, crying: 'Ah, how frightened I have been! How dark
it was inside the wolf.'
After that the aged grandmother came out alive also, but scarcely able to breathe. Red Riding
Hood, however, quickly fetched great stones with which they filled the wolf's belly, and when he
awoke, he wanted to run away, but the stones were so heavy that he collapsed at once, and fell
dead.
Then all three were delighted. The huntsman drew off the wolf's skin and went home with it;
the grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine which Red Riding Hood had brought, and
revived. But Red Riding Hood thought to herself: 'As long as I live, I will never leave the path by
myself to run into the wood, when my mother has forbidden me to do so.'

It is also related that once, when Red Riding Hood was again taking cakes to the old
grandmother, another wolf spoke to her, and tried to entice her from the path. Red Riding Hood,
however, was on her guard, and went straight forward on her way, and told her grandmother
that she had met the wolf, and that he had said 'good morning' to her, but with such a wicked
look in his eyes, that if they had not been on the public road she was certain he would have
eaten her up.
'Well,' said the grandmother, 'we will shut the door, so that he can not come in.'
Soon afterwards the wolf knocked, and cried: 'Open the door, grandmother, I am Little Red
Riding Hood, and am bringing you some cakes.'
But they did not speak, or open the door, so the grey-beard stole twice or thrice round the
house, and at last jumped on the roof, intending to wait until Red Riding Hood went home in the
evening, and then to steal after her and devour her in the darkness. But the grandmother saw
what was in his thoughts.
< 5 >
In front of the house was a great stone trough, so she said to the child: 'Take the pail, Red
Riding Hood; I made some sausages yesterday, so carry the water in which I boiled them to the
trough.'
Red Riding Hood carried until the great trough was quite full. Then the smell of the sausages
reached the wolf, and he sniffed and peeped down, and at last stretched out his neck so far that
he could no longer keep his footing and began to slip, and slipped down from the roof straight
into the great trough, and was drowned. But Red Riding Hood went joyously home, and no one
ever did anything to harm her again.
Rapunzel
There were once a man and a woman who had long, in vain, wished for a child. At length it appeared that
God was about to grant their desire.
These people had a little window at the back of their house from which a splendid garden could be seen,
which was full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no
one dared to go into it because it belonged to an enchantress, who had great power and was dreaded by all
the world.
One day the woman was standing by this window and looking down into the garden, when she saw a bed
which was planted with the most beautiful rampion, and it looked so fresh and green that she longed for it.
She quite pined away, and began to look pale and miserable.
Her husband was alarmed, and asked: 'What ails you, dear wife?'
'Ah,' she replied, 'if I can't eat some of the rampion, which is in the garden behind our house, I shall die.'
The man, who loved her, thought: 'Sooner than let your wife die, bring her some of the rampion yourself,
let it cost what it will.'
At twilight, he clambered down over the wall into the garden of the enchantress, hastily clutched a
handful of rampion, and took it to his wife. She at once made herself a salad of it, and ate it greedily. It
tasted so good to her - so very good, that the next day she longed for it three times as much as before.
If he was to have any rest, her husband knew he must once more descend into the garden. Therefore, in
the gloom of evening, he let himself down again; but when he had clambered down the wall he was terribly
afraid, for he saw the enchantress standing before him.
'How can you dare,' said she with angry look, 'descend into my garden and steal my rampion like a thief?
You shall suffer for it!'

< 2 >
'Ah,' answered he, 'let mercy take the place of justice, I only made up my mind to do it out of necessity.
My wife saw your rampion from the window, and felt such a longing for it that she would have died if she had
not got some to eat.'
The enchantress allowed her anger to be softened, and said to him: 'If the case be as you say, I will
allow you to take away with you as much rampion as you will, only I make one condition, you must give me
the child which your wife will bring into the world; it shall be well treated, and I will care for it like a mother.'
The man in his terror consented to everything.
When the woman was brought to bed, the enchantress appeared at once, gave the child the name of
Rapunzel, and took it away with her.
Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve years old, the
enchantress shut her into a tower in the middle of a forest. The tower had neither stairs nor door, but near
the top was a little window. When the enchantress wanted to go in, she placed herself beneath it and cried:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.'

Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and when she heard the voice of the enchantress,
she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then the
hair fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress climbed up by it.
After a year or two, it came to pass that the king's son rode through the forest and passed by the tower.
Then he heard a song, which was so charming that he stood still and listened. It was Rapunzel, who in her
solitude passed her time in letting her sweet voice resound. The king's son wanted to climb up to her, and
looked for the door of the tower, but none was to be found. He rode home, but the singing had so deeply
touched his heart, that every day he went out into the forest and listened to it.
< 3 >
Once when he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw that an enchantress came there, and he heard
how she cried:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.'

Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the enchantress climbed up to her.
'If that is the ladder by which one mounts, I too will try my fortune,' said he, and the next day when it
began to grow dark, he went to the tower and cried:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.'

Immediately the hair fell down and the king's son climbed up.
At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man, such as her eyes had never yet beheld, came to
her; but the king's son began to talk to her quite like a friend, and told her that his heart had been so stirred
that it had let him have no rest, and he had been forced to see her. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when
he asked her if she would take him for her husband, and she saw that he was young and handsome, she
thought: 'He will love me more than old Dame Gothel does'; and she said yes, and laid her hand in his.
She said: 'I will willingly go away with you, but I do not know how to get down. Bring with you a skein of
silk every time that you come, and I will weave a ladder with it, and when that is ready I will descend, and
you will take me on your horse.'
They agreed that until that time he should come to her every evening, for the old woman came by day.
The enchantress remarked nothing of this, until once Rapunzel said to her: 'Tell me, Dame Gothel, how it
happens that you are so much heavier for me to draw up than the young king's son - he is with me in a
moment.'
< 4 >
'Ah! you wicked child,' cried the enchantress. 'What do I hear you say! I thought I had separated you
from all the world, and yet you have deceived me!'
In her anger she clutched Rapunzel's beautiful tresses, wrapped them twice round her left hand, seized a
pair of scissors with the right, and snip, snap, they were cut off, and the lovely braids lay on the ground. And
she was so pitiless that she took poor Rapunzel into a desert where she had to live in great grief and misery.
On the same day that she cast out Rapunzel, however, the enchantress fastened the braids of hair, which
she had cut off, to the hook of the window, and when the king's son came and cried:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.'

she let the hair down. The king's son ascended, but instead of finding his dearest Rapunzel, he found the
enchantress, who gazed at him with wicked and venomous looks.
'Aha!' she cried mockingly, 'you would fetch your dearest, but the beautiful bird sits no longer singing in
the nest; the cat has got it, and will scratch out your eyes as well. Rapunzel is lost to you; you will never see
her again.'
The king's son was beside himself with pain, and in his despair he leapt down from the tower. He escaped
with his life, but the thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes.
He wandered quite blind about the forest, ate nothing but roots and berries, and did naught but lament
and weep over the loss of his dearest wife. Thus he roamed about in misery for some years, and at length
came to the desert where Rapunzel, with the twins to which she had given birth, a boy and a girl, lived in
wretchedness. He heard a voice, and it seemed so familiar to him that he went towards it, and when he
approached, Rapunzel knew him and fell on his neck and wept. Two of her tears wetted his eyes and they
grew clear again, and he could see with them as before. He led her to his kingdom where he was joyfully
received, and they lived for a long time afterwards, happy and contented.
top
Rumpelstiltskin
Once there was a miller who was poor, but who had a beautiful daughter. Now it happened that
he had to go and speak to the king, and in order to make himself appear important he said to
him, "I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold."
The king said to the miller, "That is an art which pleases me well, if your daughter is as clever
as you say, bring her to-morrow to my palace, and I will put her to the test."
And when the girl was brought to him he took her into a room which was quite full of straw,
gave her a spinning-wheel and a reel, and said, "Now set to work, and if by to-morrow morning
early you have not spun this straw into gold during the night, you must die."
Thereupon he himself locked up the room, and left her in it alone. So there sat the poor
miller's daughter, and for the life of her could not tell what to do, she had no idea how straw
could be spun into gold, and she grew more and more frightened, until at last she began to
weep.
But all at once the door opened, and in came a little man, and said, "Good evening, mistress
miller, why are you crying so?"
"Alas," answered the girl, "I have to spin straw into gold, and I do not know how to do it."
"What will you give me," said the manikin, "if I do it for you?"
"My necklace," said the girl.
The little man took the necklace, seated himself in front of the wheel, and whirr, whirr, whirr,
three turns, and the reel was full, then he put another on, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three times
round, and the second was full too. And so it went on until the morning, when all the straw was
spun, and all the reels were full of gold.
< 2 >
By daybreak the king was already there, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and
delighted, but his heart became only more greedy. He had the miller's daughter taken into
another room full of straw, which was much larger, and commanded her to spin that also in one
night if she valued her life. The girl knew not how to help herself, and was crying, when the door
opened again, and the little man appeared, and said, "What will you give me if I spin that straw
into gold for you?"
"The ring on my finger," answered the girl.
The little man took the ring, again began to turn the wheel, and by morning had spun all the
straw into glittering gold.
The king rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but still he had not gold enough, and he had
the miller's daughter taken into a still larger room full of straw, and said, "You must spin this,
too, in the course of this night, but if you succeed, you shall be my wife."
Even if she be a miller's daughter, thought he, I could not find a richer wife in the whole
world.
When the girl was alone the manikin came again for the third time, and said, "What will you
give me if I spin the straw for you this time also?"
"I have nothing left that I could give," answered the girl.
"Then promise me, if you should become queen, to give me your first child."
Who knows whether that will ever happen, thought the miller's daughter, and, not knowing
how else to help herself in this strait, she promised the manikin what he wanted, and for that he
once more spun the straw into gold.
And when the king came in the morning, and found all as he had wished, he took her in
marriage, and the pretty miller's daughter became a queen.
< 3 >
A year after, she brought a beautiful child into the world, and she never gave a thought to
the manikin. But suddenly he came into her room, and said, "Now give me what you promised."
The queen was horror-struck, and offered the manikin all the riches of the kingdom if he
would leave her the child. But the manikin said, "No, something alive is dearer to me than all the
treasures in the world."
Then the queen began to lament and cry, so that the manikin pitied her.
"I will give you three days, time," said he, "if by that time you find out my name, then shall
you keep your child."
So the queen thought the whole night of all the names that she had ever heard, and she sent
a messenger over the country to inquire, far and wide, for any other names that there might be.
When the manikin came the next day, she began with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, and said all
the names she knew, one after another, but to every one the little man said, "That is not my
name."
On the second day she had inquiries made in the neighborhood as to the names of the people
there, and she repeated to the manikin the most uncommon and curious. Perhaps your name is
Shortribs, or Sheepshanks, or Laceleg, but he always answered, "That is not my name."
On the third day the messenger came back again, and said, "I have not been able to find a
single new name, but as I came to a high mountain at the end of the forest, where the fox and
the hare bid each other good night, there I saw a little house, and before the house a fire was
burning, and round about the fire quite a ridiculous little man was jumping, he hopped upon one
leg, and shouted -
'To-day I bake, to-morrow brew,
< 4 >
the next I'll have the young queen's child.
Ha, glad am I that no one knew
that Rumpelstiltskin I am styled.'"
You may imagine how glad the queen was when she heard the name. And when soon
afterwards the little man came in, and asked, "Now, mistress queen, what is my name?"
At first she said, "Is your name Conrad?"
"No."
"Is your name Harry?"
"No."
"Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?"
"The devil has told you that! The devil has told you that," cried the little man, and in his
anger he plunged his right foot so deep into the earth that his whole leg went in, and then in
rage he pulled at his left leg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.
top
Veer, Vikram and Budhu
There was a small village in Kashmir. In that village lived a poor farmer. He had three sons,
Veer, Vikram and Budhu. Budhu was called so, because others considered him as foolish.
Veer and Vikram were not good boys. They both went to Srinagar to earn money and they did
not come back. They earned little money and spent it all. So Budhu was sent by his father in
search of them. Budhu found them out in Srinagar and told them how his parents were
suffering. So the next day all of them decided to travel to Hrishi Kesh for earning more
money. Those days, there were no buses and only bullock carts were there. Even that was for
rich people. So these brothers walked towards Hrishikesh. On their way they saw an anthill.
While Veer and Vikram wanted to destroy it, Buddhu, oppose it tooth and nail. He told them,
These ants have done us no harm. So we should not trouble them. Veer and Vikram at last
agreed and they walked further. Then they came to a very big lake full of swans. Veer and
Vikram wanted to kill those swans. Budhu opposed it and told, These swans have done us
no harm .So we should not kill them, At last Veer and Vikram agreed and they proceeded on
their journey. Then they came to a deep forest. In the forest there was a huge Beehive. Veer
and Vikram wanted to set fire to the Beehive and drink the honey. But Budhu told them, That
is not correct. These bees have done us no harm. They have collected this honey with lot of
effort. Veer and Vikram at last agreed.
Next day they reached a huge town where everything had turned in to stone .In the entrance
three stone horses were there. All of them went in and found all people had turned in to
stone. At last they found light in one room. When they entered the room, they found an old
man eating his dinner on a stone table. He gave them good food and told them, Having eaten
this food, you have to do three tasks. If you complete it, then all the people in the town would
become alive. If you do not do it, then you will also become stones.
Veer agreed first. The first task was to collect back 1000 pearls buried in the mud, below a
stone before sun set. Veer did his best but could collect only 20 pearls. He was turned in to
stone. Next day, Vikram started the task. He also failed as he could collect only 10 pearls by
evening.
Only Budhu was left out. He went near the stone and started crying. Suddenly an ant followed
by thousands of ants came near him. The ant told him, You have saved us the other day. I
will help you today. Then all the ants went in side the mud and brought back all the 1000
pearls before noon. The next task was to find the golden ring of the princess, which was lost
in a lake. Again Budhu went near the lake and started crying. Suddenly thousands of swans
came from no where and within no time brought the ring from the bottom of the lake. The
third task was the most difficult. That city had three princesses. All of them had become
stone. Budhu had to find out the youngest. The only clue was that before they became stone,
the eldest was eating an apple, the second one was eating sugar and the third one was
drinking honey. All the princesses looked very much alike. The honeybee came to help
Budhu this time. It went near the lips of each princess and later sat on the lip of the youngest
princess who had drunk honey. Budhu easily identified her.
The entire town suddenly awoke. All of them including Veer and Vikram thanked Budhu. They
said he was not Budhu but Buddha Pundit.
Hanuman the mischievous child
Hanuman was the son of a Monkey called Anjana and the God of Wind. He was very
mischievous. One day when anjana was very busy, Hanuman asked her for food. She told
him to pluck any red fruit and eat it. At that time the Sun was raising in the east and it was
red. Hanuman thought that it was a fruit and jumped towards Sun God. Sun God became very
worried and asked his friend Indra to help. Indra came on his white elephant and beat
Hanuman with his diamond mace. Hanuman fell down on the ground dead. The wind God saw
this and became very angry and sad. He hid himself in a cave. Because of the absence of air
all people started dying. Then Lord Brahma went to the place where wind god was hiding and
requested him to come back. He promised him that Hanuman will never die and also he
requested all Gods to bless him. Hanuman thus became a very strong monkey.
Tenaliraman and the baby prince
One day When Tenaliraman went to the court of Krishnadeva raya, the baby prince who was
only three years old was crying for the removal of mustaches of the prime minister. The king
to please his pet baby ordered the Prime Minister to remove his moustache. Tenaliraman
arrived at this stage and told the king Sir, It is not possible to satisfy all the whims and
fancies of babies. So, I think what you are doing is wrong. Tell the prince clearly that we
cannot agree to his wish this time. But the king rudely replied back to Tenaliraman, He is
the prince of a great empire .That too he is a baby. So all his wishes will be fulfilled.
Tenaliraman then told the king, Sir allow me to be the baby prince for a few minutes. Let me
see whether you can fulfill all my wishes. The king agreed. Tenaliraman then started crying
like a baby. When the king asked, what he wanted, he desired for a match box. After lot of
tantrums, he accepted a small match box .Then he again he started crying, King again asked
him, what he wanted. Tenaliraman, this time wanted a big elephant. This was brought. Then
Tenaliraman wanted the king to put the elephant in the match box. The king realized how
impossible his wish was. He then sternly told the prince, that the moustache of the Prime
Minister was none of his business and chided him. Thus Tenaliraman was able to correct the
king.
The Story of Tenali Raman and the cat
Long long ago there was a man called Tenali Raman. He was minister to a great king called
Krishna Deva Raya. He was supposed to be very clever
Once in that city there was lot of problems due to rats. Rats were everywhere. They were
eating all sorts of books and papers. They also used to make holes in wooden shelves and
also eat rice. Sometimes they even nibbled the ears of little clever girls. Everybody knows
that Cats Kill rats. But there were so many rats in the city but very few cats. So the king asked
every house in the city to grow cats. But cats need milk to drink. Most of the houses did not
have cows. So the king gave cows to every house and asked them to grow them too. All
people were happy and used to give cats lot of milk to drink
Tenali Raman was a lazy man and liked to drink milk. So the first day he boiled the milk and
poured it in a pan. He gave the piping hot milk to the cat. The cat, which was hungry came
and sipped the milk from the pan. Since the milk was hot it burnt its mouth. The cat ran away.
The next day and the next Tenali Raman did the same thing. After a few days he stopped
giving milk to the cat and started drinking it himself
Tenali Ramans cat was lean and hungry and all other cats were stout and happy. One day the
king wanted to see all the cats given by him and give prize to the fat cat. He was very angry
with Tenali Raman for not growing his cat properly. Then Tenali Raman told the king that he
was not lucky since his cat did not drink any milk. The king wanted to put Tenali Raman in
J ail for telling a lie and wanted him to prove what he said
Then Tenali Raman brought the pan of milk and his cat. The cat on seeing the milk ran away.
It thought that it was being given again hot milk. The king pitied Tenali Raman and let him
away. The clever Tenali Raman lived happily forever drinking lots and lots of milk.

Tenaliraman and the horse

The king wanted all his people to grow horses . Maithree could not understand.
Dogs, Yes. Cats , Yes. But why at all horses. She has seen them in cowboy films on
the TV. And so natural question was why?

Thatha had to go back to old history. During those times , Maithree, wars
between kings were being fought. But then why, popped the question from
Thathas own Kutti. All kings wanted to rule over others so that they become
richer and so they fought wars. Does it mean, Thatha that Tenali's king was bad,
interjected Kutti. No, Darling but he was afraid of other kings and he needed more
horses. So, Kutti, he called all his people and gave them one horse each to bring
up. He also gave them lot of straw so that the horses can eat. All people were
happy except Tenaliraman. He shut his horse in a room and daily at 9 AM sharp
give it very little straw . The rest o the straw he gave to his cows. Maithree Kutti ,
was very angry. Is it not bad, Thatha shouted , Maithree.. Thatha agreed but told
her that this was indeed bad.

After one more year, the king wanted to see all his horses. All of them brought
their horses. They were indeed very good. But King noticed that Tenaliraman had
not brought his horse. He asked him why he has not brought his horse.
Tenaliraman replied that his horse was very strong and he could not bring it. The
king was surprised. He said , I will send my police to your house tomorrow at 9
AM. Tenali nodded his head. Maithree Kutti was jumping. Thatha , that means
Tenaliraman would be punished by the king, is it not, Thatha.

Next day the police inspector went to Tenali Ramans house. He had a beard,
which was very long. Tenali Raman took him to the room where the house was
kept locked. He asked him to see through the window. The inspector peeped in
through the narrow window. Naturally his beard entered the room first. The
horse thought that it was straw being given at the regular time. It Caught hold of
the beard of the inspector and started pulling. The inspector was crying in pain.
But the horse was not leaving because , it knew that this was the only straw for
the day. The inspector lost his beard and ran to the king

He told the king that Tenaliraman's horse was very strong. That is cheating ,
Thatha , cried , Kutti. That is true , darling, but then some times people do get
deceived by clever people
The Tenali Rama and the three dolls
There was a great king called Krishna Deva Raya. One of his great ministers was Tenali
Rama. Though extremely wise, he believed in teaching everything through fun. So he was
called Vikata kavi- humorous poet
One day a wealth merchant came to the court of Krishna Deva Raya. He was from some other
country. After saluting the king, he told, Great king, People tell me that you have lot of wise
ministers. If you permit me, I want to test them. The king became curious and agreed.
The merchant then gave the king three exactly similar looking dolls and told him, Sir, these
dolls look same but are different. Please ask your wise ministers to find out the difference. I
would come back after 30 days. If none of you can find it, I will assume that you do not have
any wise minister. The king agreed and merchant went back.
Then the king called all his ministers except Tenali Rama and gave them each three days time
to find out the difference between the dolls. None of them were able to find out. The king
started getting worried. Then he called Tenali Rama. When Tenali Rama came, he gave the
dolls told him, Rama, I did not trouble earlier because I thought it must be very simple. But
so far none of them have been able to find out the difference. I also tried and I was also not
able to find out the difference. The pride of our country now depends on you. Tenali Rama
accepted the dolls and spent three days with the dolls. He was also finding it very difficult.
But at last he found out.
Next day, he went to the court. The merchant also came that day. Then Tenali Rama told him,
These dolls are different. One is very good, another medium and another bad. The
merchant, the king and all other ministers asked, Which is which?
Then Tenali Rama showed them a tiny hole in the ears of the dolls. He took the first doll and
put a very thin wire through this hole. The wire came out of the dolls mouth. For the next
doll, the wire came out of its other ear. For the third doll, the wire went to his heart and never
came out. Tenali Rama told, The first doll, where the wire came out of its mouth is bad. It
represents people, to whom, if we tell a secret, they will tell it to others. The second doll,
where the wire came out of the other ear, represents people who do not understand what you
say. They are harmless and are medium. Tin case of the third, the secret goes to the heart
and is preserved there.
The merchant and the king were pleased by Tenali Ramans finding and gave him lot of
presents. Then Tenali Rama told them that his explanation was wrong .He told them, There
is another explanation. The fist doll represents people who hear and teach it to others. So
they are good. The second doll represents people who hear and do not understand. So they
are medium. The third type of people are those who learn things and do not teach it to any
body and keep everything secret. They are bad people. Then the king asked, Is there any
other explanation? Can you reply him?
The Advent of Lord Krishna

Krishna was born in a tense historical period preceeding a devastating war. The
warring factions built up so many weapons that the burden on the earth became
unbearable. Finally the goddess of Earth took the form of a cow and prayed to Lord
Brahma for relief. Lord Brahma called all the demigods to the shore of the Milk
Ocean to hear Mother Earth and to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Lord Vishnu. Lord Brahma fell into trance reciting the Vedic hymns known as the
Purusa-sukta and heard the voice of Lord Vishnu. Then he announced, "O demigods,
hear from me the words of God. He is aware of the distress on Earth and wants you
demigods to incarnate as sons and daughters in the Yadu dynasty. The Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, will personally appear as the son of Vasudeva.
Therefore you will all have the benediction of joining the eternal pastimes of Lord
Krishna."

Lord Brahma consoled the cow and sent her home, then returned to his planet,
Brahmaloka. The demigods then began to take birth in the Yadu dynasty, awaiting the
appearance of Lord Krishna. The members of the Yadu dynasty, headed by Vasudeva
and Devaki, along with their friends, relatives and well- wishers were all demigods.
The residents of Vrindavana, headed by King Nanda, Queen Yasoda and Queen
Rohini, were also demigods.

King Kamsa was another relative in the family, however he was not a demigod. He
usurped the throne of his father, Ugrasena, and put him in prison. When Devaki, a
member of Ugrasena's family, married Vasudeva, she received a large dowry of
elephants, horses, chariots and servants. After the wedding, Kamsa took the reins of
the wedding chariot and started to escort the couple home. Along the way, a voice
from the sky addressed him: "You foolish king, the eighth son of Devaki will kill
you!"

Kamsa pulled Devaki down by her hair, drew his sword and prepared to kill her on the
spot, but Vausdeva begged for his bride's life and promised to let him kill the eighth
child, so that the oracle would not be fulfilled. Kamsa agreed to spare her life, but
locked Vasudeva and Devaki in a stone prison. Thereafter, he mercilessly killed the
first six sons of Devaki. Devaki's seventh son miscarried but mystically transferred to
the womb of Queen Rohini in Vrindavana. This became Krishna's older brother,
Balarama. Soon thereafter, Devaki became pregnant with her eighth child.

The Appearance of Krishna

Krishna was born at the stroke of midnight in His four-armed Vishnu form, dressed in
silk and jewels, carrying the four weapons: the conch, disc, club and lotus. His parents
prayed for Him to turn Himself into an ordinary baby so they could hide Him from
Kamsa. The Lord advised Vasudeva to take him to Vrindavana and exchange him
with a girl that had just been born there. Then He turned Himself into a baby.

Magically, the guards in Kamsa's prison fell asleep, and all the iron shackles, chains
and locks automatically opened. Without questioning this, Vasudeva took the child
and departed for Vrindavana. Like the story of Moses, the story of Krishna also
includes a parting of the waters, allowing Vasudeva to carry Krishna across the
Jamuna River to Vrindavana. When Vasudeva reached the house of Nanda, all the
cowherds were asleep. Thus he placed his own son on the bed of Yasoda, picked up
her newborn girl and returned to the prison of Kamsa.

There was a chance Kamsa would spare the child because the omen said it would be
the eighth son that would kill him. Devaki pleaded with him, but Kamsa pulled the
baby girl from her arms and dashed her against a stone. The girl slipped from his
hands and rose above his head as the eight-armed form of Goddess Durga, dressed in
fine garments and jewels. She said, "The enemy you contemplate is living somewhere
else. You are a fool to hurt innocent children. Krishna will kill you."

Kamsa became remorseful and begged Devaki and Vasudeva to forgive him for his
sins. He released them from their shackles and fell down on their feet, crying tears of
regret. The next day, however, Kamsa's ministers advised him to give up his
sentimental attitude and take action to kill all newborn children in the region. They
also advised him to disturb the demigods and saintly people. There is a parallel to this
story in the New Testament. When Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Herod killed
all newborn children in the area, in what is known as the Massacre of the Innocents.
Based on a dream, Joseph took the baby Jesus to Egypt, and returned only after Herod
was dead.


Krishna's Childhood in Vrindavana

When Yasoda and Nanda found Krishna as their son, they performed all the religious
ceremonies in secret, to avoid Kamsa's wrath. The family astrologer, Gargamuni, told
the family, "Your son Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He will protect
you from Kamsa's persecutions, and by His grace only, you will surpass all
difficulties. Therefore raise Him carefully, because many demons will try to attack
him."

This warning proved true because throughout His childhood, Krishna fought Kamsa's
demons, along with all the other demons and jealous and misguided demigods who
approached Him.


Krishna Kills the Witch Putana

Kamsa enlisted a demon named Putana to kill newborn babies. The demon dressed as
a beautiful woman and flew on her broom to Krishna's nursery, hoping to kill Him
with the poison she had smeared on her nipples. Krishna's mother innocently let
Putana pick the baby up and put it to her breast. Krishna closed His eyes and sucked
out her life air, killing her, without taking her poison. When Putana's soul departed,
her body returned to its real form: a gigantic witch that smashed trees as it fell,
stretching twelve miles across the landscape. Putana's soul attained liberation due to
the benevolent act of offering her breast milk to Krishna and the inhabitants of
Vrindavana cremated the body.


After Krishna killed Putana, the elder gopis (women of the village) picked Him up
and performed auspicious rites for His protection and purification. They bathed Him
and chanted religious mantras to prevent further attacks. Srila Prabhuapda explains in
Krishna Book: "The elderly gopis of Vrindavana were so absorbed in affection for
Krishna that they wanted to save Him, although there was no need to, for He had
already protected Himself. They could not understand that Krishna was the Supreme
Personality of Godhead playing as a child." (p. 47)

Krishna's parents treated children lovingly, celebrating their birthdays and other rites
of passage. They acted in a kindly way to correct their children when they got into
mischief, for example sometimes Krishna and Balarama would get into the cow shed,
catch the tail of a calf and stand up. The calves would drag them around and they
would be covered with mud. Rather than become angry, the mothers would call their
friends to watch the fun. Mother Yasoda never hit Krishna, but once tied Him to a
grinding mortar when He stole butter and fed it to the monkeys. The scriptures explain
that as she tried to tie him, the rope was too short. She kept using a longer rope, but it
always came up too short. Srila Prabhupada explains that "Krishna appreciated the
hard labor of His mother, and being compassionate upon her, He agreed to be bound
up by the ropes." (Krishna Book, p. 66)

Krishna tried to crawl and the mortar stuck between two Arjuna trees in the courtyard.
The trees fell and two splendorous demigods emerged and offered prayers to Krishna.
Narada Muni cursed had the souls to stand as trees for one hundred years and Krishna
freed them.

When the boys got a little older, they spent their days playing with the calves in a
nearby field. Their mothers cooked the noon meal and called them from the fields, or
they would pack lunches for them. Children were considered the wealth of the family
and were protected from abuse. However, rather than the parents protecting Krishna,
it is the child who protects the village and all the people in it.


Krishna Kills the Snake Demon Aghasura

One day the cowherd boys were playing their games, such as imitating peacocks and
running after birds' shadows on the ground, when they came upon a mountain cave.
This was actually a demon-brother of Putana's, who had expanded himself into an
eight-mile long snake to kill the boys. The opening to the cave was his mouth. The
boys felt a hot wind blowing that smelled like fish, or the serpent's intestines.

The scriptures say that when the boys walked into the cave Krishna became
momentarily aggrieved because He knew it was one of Kamsa's tricks. He considered
for a moment, then decided to enter the cave Himself. Demons all over the world
became joyful when Krishna went inside. The demigods, who had been hiding among
the clouds to see what would happen, became distressed. For a time it seemed as if the
snake-demon had killed Krishna, but when Krishna heard the demigods' pleas He
grew larger and choked the demon to death. Aghasura's life air burst through a hole in
his skull and waited there for Krishna to come out, then it merged into His body.
Krishna showed His benevolent nature by rescuing His friends and giving liberation to
Aghasura.


Lord Brahma Kidnaps the Cowherd Boys

When Aghasura died, the demigods offered prayers, threw flowers, and beat drums.
Hearing the commotion, Lord Brahma arrived on the scene. At that time Brahma
kidnapped the children children, an offense unbecoming of a demigod. Krishna was
unhappy because due to Brahma's misdeed, because He would have to go back to the
village alone. Instead, He decided to expand himself into substitute boys and calves
that looked exactly like the originals, and he returned to the village with them. No one
could tell the difference, but families showed increased spontaneous affection to their
sons (who were actually expansions of God). Balarama, Krishna's brother, noticed the
parents' behavior and asked Krishna what was going on. Krishna explained how Lord
Brahma had kidnapped the real boys and calves.

Brahma made a mistake in trying to test Krishna's power. Life went on like this for a
year before Brahma returned. Brahma's time passes much more quickly, so it seemed
to him only a moment. However, when he returned he was shocked to see the boys
and calves playing with Krishna, as though nothing had happened. Krishna knew
Brahma was perplexed so He transformed all the boys and calves into four-armed
Vishnu forms. Brahma heard music and saw many Brahmas, Shivas, demigods and
jivas (souls) singing God's names and dancing. Brahma's mind opened at first to the
vision, but then he became bewildered, so Krishna ended the dazzling scene.

When Brahma woke up, he realized that he was face to face with Krishna the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, who was enacting His eternal pastimes as a cowherd boy in
the spiritual land of Vrindavana. Brahma immediately got down from his swan-carrier
and fell prostate at Krishna's feet to beg forgiveness. After offering glorious prayers
and penance for his behavior, Brahma circumambulated Krishna three times and
returned to his planet.

Exactly one year before, Krishna had left his friends eating lunch on the bank of the
Jamuna River. When he returned, they had just begun the meal, and thought Krishna
had only been gone for a second. None of the boys realized that a whole year had
gone by and that they had been kidnapped, asleep in a cave. When the children
returned to their homes and told their parents about the aghasura demon, the demon's
corpse had decomposed so the parents thought it was just a wild tale from the
children's imagination.


Krishna Lifts Govardhana Hill

Vishnu in his many forms is an icon of protection and Krishna was (among other
things) an avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu. It is said that the residents of Vrindavana
were sometimes aware of this and at times depended on Krishna to protect them. A
good example was when Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill. Every year the residents of
Vrindavana worshiped Lord Indra for supplying rain. One year when Krishna was a
youth, He asked Nanda to worship Govardhana Hill instead of Indra. Krishna argued,
"We do not derive any special benefit from Indra. Our specific relationship is with
Govardhana Hill and Vrindavana forest. Let us have nothing to do with Indra."
(Krishna Book, p. 170)

King Nanda finally agreed with Krishna and prepared to offer the sacrifice to
Govardhana Hill. This made Lord Indra angry and jealous. Forgetting the divine
position of Krishna, Indra reasoned, "These cowherd men in Vrindavana have
neglected my authority on the advice of this talkative boy who is known as Krishna.
He is nothing but a child, and by believing this child, they have enraged me." (Krishna
Book, p. 174) Indra then sent a storm to devastate Vrindavana. All the people and
animals came to Krishna for shelter, and in a miraculous show of strength, Krishna
lifted Govardhana Hill with one finger to make the mountain into a huge umbrella.
Everyone crowded underneath it and remained safe until the rains stopped. Later,
Lord Indra realized his mistake in attacking Krishna and apologized. This is an
example of one of the demigods behaving like a demon. Krishna Book explains,
"Indra became angry because he thought that he was all in all within this universe and
that no one was as powerful as he." (p. 180)


The End of Kamsa

Kamsa's demons harassed children throughout the region for fifteen years. Magically,
Krishna and Balarama killed them all as part of their divine play, or lila. Thus, the
inhabitants of Vrindavana were thankful, remembering their guru's prediction about
Krishna. After Krishna killed the arista (bull) demon, the great sage Narada Muni
went to Kamsa's palace and told him that Krishna and Balarama were the seventh and
eighth sons of Vasudeva. Narada described the events that took place on the night of
Krishna's birth and confirmed that Kamsa would meet his death at Krishna's hands.

On hearing this news, Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva again and renewed
his vow to kill Krishna and Balarama. He called for the Keshi demon, and other great
demons, and just in case that didn't work, he planned to draw the boys into a wrestling
match with two of his strongest wrestlers. He sent his servant Akrura to bring the boys
back to Mathura. This would be Krishna and Balarama's transition into adulthood,
because they never again return to the lighthearted pastimes of their youth, playing in
the pastures or dancing with the young gopis.

Kamsa was delirious with fear waiting for Krishna to arrive, and unable to sleep
through the night because of bad dreams. He saw his headless body in a mirror,
everything appeared double, and he saw the covering of the sky as pierced. He saw
holes in his shadow and left no footprints when he walked.

Krishna and Balarama entered the splendorous city with their friends. By and by they
came to the wrestling ring and accepted the challenge to fight Kamsa's demons. After
fighting for a few moments, Krishna and Balarama easily killed their opponents.
Everyone except Kamsa rejoiced at the wonderful defeat. The evil king stopped the
celebration and shouted: "Drive the two wicked sons of Vasudeva out of the city!
Confiscate the cowherds' property and arrest that evil man Nanda! Kill that ill-
motivated Vasudeva! Also kill my father, Ugrasena, along with his followers, who
have sided with our enemies."

Krishna jumped into the stands, seized Kamsa, knocked off his crown and dragged
him to the wrestling mat by his hair. There He easily killed Kamsa, striking him with
His fist. Kamsa's eight younger brothers attacked Krishna and Balarama, but
Balarama easily killed them with his club. Krishna and Balarama met their parents,
but Devaki and Vasudeva were struck with awe seeing the prophecy fulfilled, and
because of a feeling of reverence they were afraid to embrace their sons. After that
incident, Krishna and Balarama entered the gurukula and became princes in the court
of Yadu.


The Court of Dhritarastra

In the time of Krishna, the blind King Dhritarastra headed the lunar dynasty in
Hastinapur. His wife, Queen Gandhari, had one hundred sons called the Kauravas, the
oldest of whom was Duryodhana. Also in the royal palace were Grandfather Bhisma,
the king's uncle, and Queen Kunti and her five sons. Kunti's late husband, Pandu, was
King Dhritarastra's brother, so the Kauravas were her nephews.

Krishna was also Kunti's nephew, because her brother, Vasudeva, was Krishna's
father. She grew up away from her family, in the palace of Kuntibhoja, her cousin.
When she was a child, Kunti had pleased the powerful sage Durvasa Muni, who gave
her a mantra that would allow her to conceive five sons from the demigods. She tested
the mantra and the Sun God gave her Karna, whom she secretly set afloat in a river.
Karna grew up to become a great warrior for the Kauravas, and Kunti later revealed
that she was his real mother.

When Kunti married Pandu she used the mantra to have three more sons: Yudhistira,
Bhima and Arjuna. Pandu was cursed to die if he ever tried to have sex with his
wives, so he was glad Kunti could obtain sons from the demigods. He asked her to
give the last chance to his other wife Madri, who subsequently had twins, Nakula and
Sahadev. These five children were the Pandava brothers.

Eventually, Pandu attempted to have sex with Madri and immediately died from the
curse. Madri killed herself in the funeral pyre but Kunti lived on to care for the
children. She and her sons moved into the palace of Dhritarastra, provoking scorn and
jealousy among the hundred Kauravas. Her son Bhima caused problems with the other
children, because he was a bully. In retaliation, the Kaurava brothers once tied him up
and threw him in the ocean, but Bhima returned with added siddhis (yogic powers),
annoying them all the more.

At this time Grandfather Bhisma enrolled the Pandava and Kaurava brothers in
archery training under the renowned archer, Drona. At the end of their lessons, Arjuna
ranked first place in Drona's tests, and this was another factor to incite jealousy in the
Kauravas. As a final request to his students (guru-dakshine), Drona asked them to
arrest a neighboring king, Drupada, and bring him there for justice. The Kauravas
failed, but Arjuna succeeded, increasing the Pandava's status.

When their training as princes ended, Dhritarastra acknowledged Yudhistira, Kunti's
oldest son, as the heir-apparent to the throne. Dhritarastra's move was an indirect
insult to his oldest son, Duryodhana, whom he considered a buffoon. This angered the
Kauravas and moved the family deeper into conflict that would eventually erupt in the
devastating war, which was the basis of the most fundamental books of the Hindu
religion: Mahabharata and Bhagavad-gita.


Vengeance and Cunning Destroy the Family

Feeling angry and jealous of the Pandavas, Duryodhana made a plan to kill them. On
a family pilgrimage, he built a house of lac for them, and then his servants set it on
fire. The Kauravas thought the Pandavas were dead, but they had escaped through an
underground tunnel and lived anonymously in the forest for a time. Finally, they heard
about and engagement contest (svayamvara) for the hand of the Princess of Panchali,
Droupadi, and went there in disguise. The object of the svayamvara was that the
contestants had to string a heavy bow and shoot five arrows into the eye of a fish that
was dangling on a target in a courtyard. Many princes had gathered, including the
Kauravas, but Arjuna won the competition and brought Droupadi back to the forest
retreat with him. The other princes were unhappy at losing Droupadi, but Krishna
reasoned with them in Arjuna's favor. When they arrived home with Droupadi, Arjuna
told his mother that he had won a great prize that day. Without knowing what it was,
Kunti instructed her sons to divide it equally among themselves, and thus they all
shared Droupadi as their bride.

Everyone was joyful to find the Pandavas still alive, and married into a prominent
ruling family, and so King Dhritarastra invited them to come back to Hastinapura and
told his sons to give Yudhistira half the kingdom. Yudhistira built his palace and lived
peacefully with his brothers, Droupadi and their other wives.


Reunion at Kurukshetra

On the occasion of a solar eclipse, all the royal families traveled to Kurukshetra to
observe religious rites. Kurukshetra would later become the battlefield for the Great
War, but for now it was known only as a holy place of pilgrimage. In a previous
millennium, Parasurama, an ancient incarnation of God, had killed thousands of evil
military kings there, and their blood formed a river at that spot.

When the royal families met their relations in Kurukshetra, there were great
exchanges of love. The Krishna Book describes, "Meeting after long separation, they
were all jubilant; their hearts were throbbing, and their faces appeared like freshly
bloomed lotus flowers. There were drops of tears falling from their eyes, the hair on
their bodies stood on end, and because of their extreme ecstasy, they were temporarily
speechless." (p. 86)

At this meeting, Vasudeva and Kunti, who were brother and sister, lamented their
long separation. Kunti complained about all she had been through due to Duryodhana.
Vasudeva reminded her that he loved her and would have been there to help, except
that his life was also miserable due to Kamsa's persecutions.

Krishna and Balarama met the residents of Vrindavana and renewed their
relationships with their foster parents, Nanda, Yasoda and Rohini, and the gopis,
cowherd girls. The gopis were especially pleased to see Krishna again, since He had
never fulfilled His promise to return to Vrindavana. While Krishna and Balarama met
their childhood friends, Krishna's parents from Vrindavana met with Vasudeva and
Devaki. Vasudeva finally disclosed to Nanda the events surrounding Krishna's birth,
and they both felt grateful for their fate, having Krishna as their son. While Nanda and
Yasoda sometimes thought of Krishna as their ordinary child, Vasudeva and Devaki
had always remained conscious of Krishna's divinity.


The Great War

Duryodhana remained angry at the Pandavas and wanted to drive them from the
kingdom. He challenged Yudhistira to a game of dice, in which Yudhistira lost
everything including his brothers, Droupadi and himself. The Kauravas brought
Droupadi to the arena to strip off her sari and humiliate her, but she prayed to Krishna
and He mystically supplied an unending length of cloth.

King Dhritarastra came on the scene and gave everything back to the Pandavas and
sent them home. Soon after that, despite warnings and protests from all sides,
Duryodhana convinced Yudhistira to play dice again, and Yudhistira lost again. Thus
to satisfy the terms of the wager, Kunti, the Pandavas and Droupadi went to the forest
for twelve years, and spent a additional year incognito.

The Pandavas migrated as far north as Badrikashram in the Himalayas for some years,
then back to neighboring regions. Toward the end of their exile, the fighting between
the Pandavas and Kauravas heated up again. Duryodhana and his men occasionally
visited the Pandavas in the forest to pick fights. Another mortal enemy, Jayadrath,
kidnapped Droupadi, but the Pandavas rescued her. After satisfying the conditions of
the dice game by living in exile, the Pandavas returned to Hastinapura to reclaim their
kingdom, but Duryodhana refused to give them even a pinpoint of land. The situation
between the Kauravas and Pandavas grew extremely tense. Krishna tried to make
peace between the parties, but a war was destined to take place on the battlefield of
Kurukshetra. Krishna became Arjuna's chariot driver and spoke the Bhagavad-gita to
Arjuna when the armies drew up to begin fighting. After eighteen days, the war was
over.

All the great heroes of the Kaurava dynasty, along with millions of soldiers, lay dead
on the battlefield. Only the Pandavas and a small handful of others remained.
Asvatthama, one of the remaining warriors, killed Draupadi's children in their sleep,
hoping to end the royal lineage. Even though Prince Duryodhana wanted to find some
last revenge, he was appalled by this atrocity and died of grief. The Pandavas arrested
Asvatthama and brought him before Droupadi, but out of compassion she pleaded for
his life. The shameless Asvatthama made one more attempt to kill the remaining heir,
an unborn grandson in the womb of Uttara, the wife of Abhimanyu (Arjuna's son). He
hurled a brahmastra (nuclear) weapon at Uttara, and when she saw the missile coming
toward her, she ran to Krishna for protection. Krishna, who was preparing to leave for
His own kingdom, defeated the missile with his Sudarshan-chakra. The child Pariksit
grew up to inherit the kingdom.

When Gandhari came to Kurukshetra and saw the corpses of her sons scattered on the
battlefield, she blamed Krishna for everything. She cursed Him that in thirty-six years
He would also lose everything and die, so that the women in His family would cry,
just as she was crying. Then King Dhritarastra, Gandhari, Kunti and their gurus
Vidura and Sanjaya left for the forest.


Demise of the Dynasties and Death of Krishna

The Pandavas lived in grief due to separation from their relatives. After six years,
Yudhistira saw his mother in a dream and they all went to the forest to see her. They
took Vyasa, a sage and grandfather in the family, with them. Gandhari and Kunti told
Vyasa they wanted to see their dead relatives. Vyasa advised them to dip into the
Ganges, which they did, and when they came out they saw Karna, Duryodhana and all
the others standing on the bank of the river. Even the blind king Dhritarastra saw the
vision. After the Pandavas returned to Hastinapura, two days later a forest fire killed
Dhritarastra, Kunti and Gandhari.

Yudhistira had become king after the Great War, but reigned for only a few years
before the family crowned Pariksit, Arjuna's son, as king. The Pandavas and Droupadi
left their material engagements to prepare for the end of life (maha-prasthana). They
departed for the Himalayas mountains where heaven is, walking in a line with
Yudhistira first, then the other brothers, Droupadi, and finally Yudhistira's dog. As
they climbed the mountains, first Droupadi died, then each of the brothers died, until
finally Yudhistira reached the gates of heaven, followed only by the dog. Lord Indra
was there to meet him. When Yudhistira realized that his brothers and wife were dead,
he didn't want to go into heaven alone, but Indra said the others were already there
waiting for him, thus Yudhistira and the dog entered heaven with Lord Indra.

Along with the curse of Gandhari, another curse befell Krishna's dynasty that
contributed to its annihilation. Once some of Krishna's sons were playing around and
they dressed Samba as a pregnant woman, and brought him before some visiting sages
Visvamitra, Kanva and Narada Muni. In jest they asked the sages to predict what kind
of child Samba would give birth to. Insulted, the sages said he would give birth to an
iron rod that would become the instrument to fulfill the prophecy of their dynasty's
demise. Fearful and repentant, the boys asked Krishna what to do, but Krishna
acknowledged the curse and said it was meant to be. When Samba delivered an iron
rod the next day, the Yadavas (Krishna's sons) filed it into powder and threw it into
the sea. Krishna enforced a prohibition on liquor in Dvaraka, hoping to avoid what
was destined to come. Still evil omens began: rats multiplied and attacked humans in
their sleep, sheep howled like jackals, asses were born from cows, and cats from
mules. Krishna's Sudarshan-chakra weapon disappeared into the sky.

Eventually the powder from the iron rod washed up on the shore and grew into arrow-
like grass. The Yadavas became drunk and used the rods to kill each other. Even
Krishna beat people out of anger. In this fratricidal war all the descendents of Krishna
killed each other. Krishna sent His messenger Daruka to Hastinapura to inform Arjuna
of the demise of the Yadava race, then consoled the women in the palace. He told his
wives that Arjuna would take care of them and left for the forest. Krishna's brother
Balarama sat down under a tree and his life air came out of his mouth like a white
serpent and entered the sea. Krishna roamed the forest for some time, then sat down to
meditate. When a hunter named Jara came by, he mistook Krishna for a deer and shot
an arrow into His foot. Krishna died at once and his spirit rose into heaven. Arjuna
cremated Krishna and several of His principle queens died in the funeral pyre after
Him. Arjuna left for Hastinapura with the remaining wives, but on the way, forest
dwellers attacked and the women dove into the Satasvati River and died to escape.

Philosophers and scholars of the time knew that the death of Krishna marked the
beginning of Kali-yuga, the present age of degradation. Thus, to preserve this heritage
and the stories of Krishna for future generations, they held a convention in the Forest
of Naimasharanya. The sages discussed all these stories and Vyasa, one of the sages
present, later wrote everything down in what is now the Srimad-Bhagavatam.