All Stories
Browse our complete collection of folk tales, Panchatantra stories, and moral stories from around the world.
Hitopadesha
Ages 6-8
The Story of the Terrible Bell
A whole town flees from a bell-ringing goblin in the hills, until one sensible woman goes to see for herself what is really making the noise.
Hitopadesha
The Prince, the Sea-Princess and the Barber
A wandering prince who lost a sea-princess through his own curiosity saves an innocent barber by telling the judge what he saw one night in a herdsman’s hut.
Hitopadesha
The Story of the Faithful Rajpoot
A king secretly follows his highly paid soldier and discovers a demand for a terrible family sacrifice, followed by a supernatural reversal.
Hitopadesha
Ages 6-8
The Story of the Tortoise and the Geese
Two kind geese carry their friend the tortoise through the sky on a stick, but he must keep his mouth shut tight the whole way, and that is very hard.
Hitopadesha
Ages 9-12
The Story of the Herons and the Mongoose
Herons trick a mongoose into getting rid of the snake that eats their babies, but they forget to ask what the mongoose might do next.
Hitopadesha
Ages 9-12
The Duel of the Giants
Two giants ask for Parvati as though she were a prize, then accept a judgment that sends them into a duel in which both die.
Hitopadesha
Ages 6-8
The Story of the Brahman and the Goat
Three tricksters set out to steal a Brahman’s goat without lifting a finger, simply by telling him, one after another, that he is carrying a dog.
Indian Folk Tales
Bopoluchi the Clever Girl
Tricked into going off with a robber who claims to be her long-lost uncle, an orphan girl must rely on her quick wits and her courage to get away from him.
Indian Folk Tales
Charity Alone Conquers
A kind prince keeps forgiving the cruel friend who blinded him and left him for dead, until that friend’s own wicked schemes catch up with him in the end.
Indian Folk Tales
Wali Dad the Simple-Hearted
A poor old grass-cutter spends his life savings on a gold bracelet for a princess he has never met, and his gift sets off a chain of ever grander presents.
Hitopadesha
All Ages
The Doves and the Hunter’s Net
Caught together in a hunter’s net, a flock of doves follows their wise king’s plan to fly off with the net and seek help from a friendly mouse.
Jataka Tales
Ages 9-12
The Wise and Foolish Merchants
Two merchants cross a demon-haunted desert, and while the foolish one pours out his water on a stranger’s word, the wise one asks questions and survives.