Once upon a time the Bodhisatta was a Pigeon, and lived in a nest-basket which a rich man’s cook had hung up in the kitchen, in order to earn merit by it.
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Tag: short bedtime stories for kids
How the Wicked Sons were Duped – Indian Fairy Tales
A very wealthy old man, imagining that he was on the point of death, sent for his sons and divided his property among them.
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How Sun, Moon, and Wind went out to Dinner – Indian Fairy Tales
One day Sun, Moon, and Wind went out to dine with their uncle and aunts Thunder and Lightning. Their mother (one of the most distant Stars you see far up in the sky) waited alone for her children’s return.
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The Ivory City and its Fairy Princess – Indian Fairy Tales
One day a young prince was out practising archery with the son of his father’s chief vizier, when one of the arrows accidentally struck the wife of a merchant, who was walking about in an upper room of a house close by.
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Why the Fish Laughed – Indian Fairy Tales
As a certain fisherwoman passed by a palace crying her fish, the queen appeared at one of the windows and beckoned her to come near and show what she had. At that moment a very big fish jumped about in the bottom of the basket.
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The Prince and the Fakir – Indian Fairy Tales
There was once upon a time a King who had no children. Now this King went and laid him down to rest at a place where four roads met, so that every one who passed had to step over him.
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The Boy who had a Moon on his Forehead and a Star on his Chin – Indian Fairy Tales
In a country were seven daughters of poor parents, who used to come daily to play under the shady trees in the King’s garden with the gardener’s daughter; and daily she used to say to them, “When I am married I shall have a son.
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The Farmer and the Money-lender – Indian Fairy Tales
There was once a farmer who suffered much at the hands of a money-lender. Good harvests, or bad, the farmer was always poor, the money-lender rich.
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The Ass in the Lion’s Skin – Indian Fairy Tales
At the same time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future Buddha was born one of a peasant family; and when he grew up, he gained his living by tilling the ground.
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Raja Rasalu – Indian Fairy Tales
Once there lived a great Raja, whose name was Salabhan, and he had a Queen, by name Lona, who, though she wept and prayed at many a shrine, had never a child to gladden her eyes.
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Pride goeth before a Fall – Indian Fairy Tales
In a certain village there lived ten cloth merchants, who always went about together.
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A Lesson for Kings – Indian Fairy Tales
Once upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future Buddha returned to life as his son and heir.
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The Son of Seven Queens – Indian Fairy Tales
Once upon a time there lived a King who had seven Queens, but no children. This was a great grief to him, especially when he remembered that on his death there would be no heir to inherit the kingdom.
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The Gold-giving Serpent – Indian Fairy Tales
Now in a certain place there lived a Brahman named Haridatta. He was a farmer, but poor was the return his labour brought him.
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A Lac of Rupees for a Bit of Advice – Indian Fairy Tales
A poor blind Brahman and his wife were dependent on their son for their subsistence. Every day the young fellow used to go out and get what he could by begging.
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The Talkative Tortoise – Indian Fairy Tales
The future Buddha was once born in a minister’s family, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares; and when he grew up, he became the king’s adviser in things temporal and spiritual.
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The Charmed Ring – Indian Fairy Tales
A merchant started his son in life with three hundred rupees, and bade him go to another country and try his luck in trade.
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Harisarman – Indian Fairy Tales
There was a certain Brahman in a certain village, named Harisarman. He was poor and foolish and in evil case for want of employment, and he had very many children, that he might reap the fruit of his misdeeds in a former life.
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Indian Fairy Tales – The Soothsayer’s Son
A soothsayer when on his deathbed wrote out the horoscope of his second son, whose name was Gangazara, and bequeathed it to him as his only property, leaving the whole of his estate to his eldest son.
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Indian Fairy Tales – The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal
Once upon a time, a tiger was caught in a trap. He tried in vain to get out through the bars, and rolled and bit with rage and grief when he failed.
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