THE BLIND WILD BOAR
 Once
upon a time there was a hunter who went out into the
bush with his rifle. There, he caught sight of two
wild boars one walking behind the other. The hunter
took aim and shot at the second wild boar but something
that astonished him happened: The leader ran away,
while the other one did not seem to know what to do.
It was left standing with something that looked like
a dry twig in its mouth.
The hunter carefully approached,
because he thought the wild boar would attack him.
He soon noticed that it stood where it had stopped,
without following his friend. Curious, the hunter
came closer to have a better look. Then he saw, that
what had looked like a dry twig, was the tail of the
wild boar that had run away. Now the hunter understood
that the wild boar was blind, and that his bullet
had hit the leader's tail and had cut it off. He caught
the blind wild boar and took it home and all the while
it still carried the cut off tail in its mouth.
In his house, the hunter fed the
wild boar and took care of it in the best way possible.
It is funny. Even the animals show consideration for
their fellow creatures. Should not we, people who
have been gifted with minds, take care of our parents,
siblings and friends who happen to be in need of help?
(This tale comes from Tigrea -
Ethiopia, Africa)
THE TALE OF WANG XIANG WHO CAUGHT FISH FOR HIS STEPMOTHER
IN THE COLD WINTER
 Wang
Xiang was a man who lived during the Jin Dynasty.
His real mother died early and his father remarried
with a woman whose family name was Zhu. Thereby she
became Wang Xiang's stepmother.
The stepmother was mean and did
not like Wang Xiang so she used to slander Wang Xiang
in front of his father. As time went by, the father
began to dislike his son too. The son remained kind
and considerate to his parents despite of this.
One winter the weather was very
bad with lots of snow falling, often for several days
on end. It was so cold after the snowfalls, that the
small river nearby, which usually sang so cheerfully,
now lay there quiet and frozen. The people stayed
home because of the cold, and the animals also rarely
went out. The ground was completely covered with snow.
One day Wang Xiang's stepmother
decided that she wanted fresh carp for dinner and
mentioned this to her stepson. He thought:
- Where can I get fresh carp when
it is snowing all day and all the rivers are frozen?
As mentioned before, Wang Xiang
was a considerate son so he immediately went out into
the white wilderness to look for fish. Wang Xiang
looked for a long time but how should he find fresh
fish? Eventually he went down to the riverbank. The
ground was hard and cold and the wind was howling.
It was so cold his whole body shivered. Now Wang Xiang
lay there staring at the frozen river and thought:
- I cannot come home empty-handed,
when my stepmother wants fish.
What would he do? Wang Xiang thought
and thought; but could not think of a solution. In
the end he broke into tears of despair and tears flowed
down his cheeks. The more he cried, the more tears
there were, and eventually there was a hole in the
ice that covered the river. Suddenly two carp jumped
up onto the ice next to the hole. They had come to
life from the warmth in Wang Xiang's tears.
Over joyous Wang Xiang lifted up
the fish and carried them home to his stepmother.
This wonder, it was later explained, was the result
of Wang Xiang's sense of duty.
(Original Chinese tale)
THE PIGEONS AND THE BIRDCATCHER'S
NET
 In
a jungle, there was once a very old oak and in it,
there lived many pigeons. All day the pigeons would
fly around and look for food but in the evenings they
would return to spend the night in the oak.
One day, the pigeons were out looking
for food as usual. Suddenly a small pigeon said:
"Look, look how much seed!
How much food there is lying strewn on the ground".
The other pigeons saw that she was right and flew
there to settle down but an old wise pigeon shouted:
"Stop! Don't fly there. How
come there is so much seed in the middle of the jungle"?
"Never mind! said another pigeon.
Come let's eat together".
The whole flock landed except the
old wise pigeon. They began feasting while she followed
their actions from a distance. When the pigeons had
feasted on the seed they wanted to fly away - but
could not. They were caught in the birdcatcher's net
and started crying out in despair:
"Help! We are caught! Help!"
The old wise pigeon replied:
"Take it easy".
But one of the pigeons shouted:
"Look! Someone is coming this
way. It is the birdcatcher who is coming to catch
us."
The old wise pigeon said:
"Calm down. Lift off the ground
all at once and you can lift the net".
The whole flock helped each other
and the net lifted a bit. Now, all the pigeons tried
as hard as they could and managed to lift the net
so that they could fly away with it. The old wise
pigeon flew first and the others followed her.
They flew for a long time until
they came to a tree. Then the old wise pigeon said
to them, while showing them the tree:
"You can settle down here.
A good friend of mine lives here, a mouse".
She called for the mouse that came
and gnawed a hole in the net so that the pigeons were
let free. The whole flock offered their deepest thanks
to the mouse.
(The tale comes from India)
HOW THE HARE GOT HIS SHORT TALE
In the vineyard the wolf
was digging and planting new vine. He had asked the
fox and the hare to help him. He had prepared a tasty
meal for them - a pot of honey. All three worked diligently,
but the fox was tempted to taste the honey in advance,
so he turned to the nearest vine and hollered:
Hello! Hello!
"What's going on"? asked
the wolf.
"I'm invited to a party",
lied the fox.
"Run along then", replied
the wolf.
"And be back soon", said
the hare.
 But
the fox went straight to the bush, where the wolf
had hidden the pot of honey. He ate until he was full
from the sweet honey and returned to the wolf and
the hare.
"How was the party"? the
wolf asked curiously.
"Busy", the fox grinned.
"How was the food"? the
hare enquired.
"Sweet and tasty", the
fox replied cunningly.
And so, they continued to dig. Soon
the fox turned around and hollered:
"Hello! Hello"!
"What now"? asked the
wolf and the hare.
"I'm invited to another party",
answered the fox.
"Then go", said the wolf.
And the fox went again. When he
returned the wolf and the hare asked if he had enjoyed
the party.
"Not half as much as the last
time".
When the fox sneaked out
for the third time - and finished the honey in the
pot - the wolf and the hare fell asleep, tired from
the hard work.
When the cunning fox returned he
smeared the sleeping hare's nose with the remains
of the honey. Then he shouted:
"Get up you sleepy heads"!
"Oh, you're back already? How
was the party"? the wolf asked and yawned.
"It was finished", smiled
the fox.
"Did you eat well"? asked
the hare and sleepily rubbed his eyes.
"Well and tasty", the
fox said and licked his mouth. "Brother wolf,
aren't you going to invite us to some food now"?
"Yes sure"! the wolf nodded,
it's noon and time for breakfast.
He nodded towards the bush by the
vine where he had hidden the pot of honey.
But he was soon back with the empty
pot and said growling:
"Somebody has finished all
the honey! If I only knew who the thief was I'd wring
his neck"!
Then the fox answered ingratiatingly:
"It is the hare who has gulped
all the honey while you were sleeping brother wolf".
"It's not true! I did not do
it"! the hare protested.
The wolf, furious, jumped on the
hare to wring his neck. The hare took off for all
his legs were worth with the wolf breathing down his
neck.
After a while the wolf had almost
caught up with him and managed to bite his tail off.
But luckily for the hare, the wolf
could not catch up with him so that he could wring
his neck. And since then, the hare has had a short
tail.
(This tale comes from Slovenia).
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