99 items in this section. Displaying page 8 of 10
The Foolish Thief
The moon was like a giant fluorescent light in the sky. It was a full moon night. And a foolish thief was getting ready to rob a villager’s house. He located the house he had decided upon and tip-toed inside. From the silvery world of moonlight outside, he had entered a dark room. He could not even see his own hand or foot. But on the wall near the roof, there was a ventilator. The moon’s rays came sliding through it to create a circle of light....
The Honest Thief
There was once a cunning thief, Bhairav, who always planned his moves carefully. One day he decided to rob the holy men who came to the local temple from far off lands for the temple’s annual festival. He calculated that all these people came from distant towns, so they must be carrying lots of money. So Bhairav dressed up like a holy man and went to attend the festival. At the temple, he slowly made friends with one particular person who appeared to be wealthy....
The Rumour
“Bajai,” as we called grandmother, was the best storyteller in the whole world, says Madhu Gurung. She lived in the foothills of Mussoorie in a tiny village called Johri Gaun. And she always started her stories with a saying, “To the listener a garland of gold, to the storyteller a garland of all forest flowers and this tale that I tell you today will be heard in heaven.” Here Madhu Gurung presents one of the many stories that she heard from Bajai in her childhood....
When Humans had Tails
A Saora folk tale from Orissa retold from ‘When the World was Young’, by Verrier Elwin. The book is a fascinating collection of folktales from the tribal peoples of India. Elwin was a pioneering anthropologist; he spent his entire life getting to know the ways of life of the tribal peoples. The Saora tribals of Orissa, in eastern India, believe that there was a time when humans had tails. Wherever they went, their tails swished along, sweeping the ground....
How Stars Came into Being
This is a story about a long, long time ago. There was once an old man who smoked tobacco. He smoked tobacco in terracotta or clay pipes, called pikka. This old man had three sons. When the three sons grew up, he got them married one after the other. How Stars Came into Being [Illustrations by Sudheer Nath] It happened once, that the eldest son went to his wife’s parents’ house to attend a marriage....
A Frog's Friendship
From ‘When the World was Young’, by Verrier Elwin. The book is a fascinating collection of folktales from the tribal peoples of India. Elwin was a pioneering anthropologist; he spent his entire life getting to know the ways of life of the tribal peoples. There was a time when the Frog had thick legs and he lived on land. He was so very different from the frogs that we see today, with their thin spindly legs and their watery homes....
The Ungrateful Friend
This happened a long long time ago. In a small village in southern Orissa, there lived an old woodcutter. One day, when he was going to the forest to cut wood, he met the tiger. The woodcutter stopped in his tracks on seeing the king of the jungle. But, strangely enough, the tiger did not roar on seeing the woodcutter. He remained silent. The woodcutter was baffled. How was he to know that the tiger was blind?...
Shebu and Moonmoon, the Long Haired Goat
Shebu and Moonmoon, the Long Haired Goat [Illustrations by Kusum Chamoli] “Bajai,” as we called grandmother, was the best storyteller in the whole world, says Madhu Gurung. She lived in the foothills of Mussoorie in a tiny village called Johri Gaun. And she always started her stories with a saying, “To the listener a garland of gold, to the storyteller a garland of all forest flowers and this tale that I tell you today will be heard in heaven....
And Elephants did Fly
A Saora folk tale from Orissa retold from ‘When the World was Young’, by Verrier Elwin. The book is a fascinating collection of folktales from the tribal peoples of India. Elwin was a pioneering anthropologist; he spent his entire life getting to know the ways of life of the tribal peoples. There was a time when elephants could fly. The world was young then, and they had wings — four big wings. In fact they were God’s greatest vehicle; he used to ride one of them....
The Story of Big Ears
Retold from “When the World was Young’, by pioneering anthropologist, Verrier Elwin. It is a fascinating collection of folktales from the tribal peoples of India. This happened a long, long time ago. Humans had big ears then. And they would flap in the wind. The Story of Big Ears [Illustrations by Nitin Vishwakarma] Their ears were so big that they found a use for them. Sometimes they would lie down upon one ear, using it as a mattress....