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India

Folk tales from the diverse traditions of India.

360 stories found
The Magic Bed Indian Folk Tales Ages 3-5

The Magic Bed

The Magic Bed: One very hot day, a young Prince, or Rajah as they are called in India, had been hunting all the morning in the jungle, and by noon had lost

The Monkey With The Tom Tom Indian Folk Tales Ages 6-8

The Monkey With The Tom Tom

The Monkey With The Tom Tom: In a remote wood there lived a monkey, and one day while he was eating wood-apples, a sharp thorn from the tree ran into the tip

The Intelligent Merchant – Hindi Folktales from India Panchatantra Stories Ages 3-5

The Intelligent Merchant – Hindi Folktales from India

The Intelligent Merchant – Hindi Folktales from India: Long ago, there was a king who was very unjust and cunning. He used to look for opportunities to tax his

The Interesting Journey (Short Story) Modern Moral Ages 8-12

The Interesting Journey (Short Story)

Read The Interesting Journey: Rohan and his father meet a banshee on an Everest trek, solve a fairies’ riddle, and offer honey and flowers. Moral about kindness. Ages 8–12. Modern kids’ short story — free to read.

The Ivory City And Its Fairy Princess Indian Folk Tales Ages 3-5

The Ivory City And Its Fairy Princess

The Ivory City And Its Fairy Princess: One day a young prince was out practising archery with the son of his father’s chief vizier, when one of the arrows

The Jackal And The Crocodile Indian Folk Tales Ages 9-12

The Jackal And The Crocodile

The Jackal And The Crocodile: Once upon a time, Mr. Jackal was trotting along gaily, when he caught sight of a wild plum-tree laden with fruit on the other

The Jackal And The Iguana Indian Folk Tales Ages 3-5

The Jackal And The Iguana

The Jackal And The Iguana: One moonlight night, a miserable, half-starved jackal, skulking through the village, found a worn-out pair of shoes in the gutter.

The Jackal And The Partridge Indian Folk Tales Ages 3-5

The Jackal And The Partridge

The Jackal And The Partridge: A Jackal and a Partridge swore eternal friendship; but the Jackal was very exacting and jealous. You don’t do half as much for me

The King’s Elephant Jataka Tales Ages 3-5

The King’s Elephant

The King’s Elephant: Long ago, the mighty Himalayas were home to a large herd of eighty thousand elephants headed by a magnificent white elephant. He had a

The Jewelled Arrow Indian Folk Tales Ages 6-8

The Jewelled Arrow

The Jewelled Arrow: In the city of Vardhamana in India there lived a powerful king named Vira-Bhuja, who, as was the custom in his native land, had many wives

The Jogis Punishment Indian Folk Tales Ages 3-5

The Jogis Punishment

The Jogis Punishment: Once upon a time there came to the ancient city of Rahmatabad, a jogi of holy appearance, who took up his abode under a tree outside the

The Fish Prince Indian Folk Tales Ages 3-5

The Fish Prince

The Fish Prince: Once there were a king and queen who had two sons. The older of the two was a very short and ugly man with only one eye, and that was in the