All Stories
Browse our complete collection of folk tales, Panchatantra stories, and moral stories from around the world.
European Fairy Tales
The Little Mermaid
A sea princess trades her voice for legs to win a prince and a soul, but when he weds another she refuses to harm him and rises into the air.
Indian Folk Tales
The Lord of Death
An old traveler follows a shape-changing bringer of death through several fatal encounters, but its final explanation leaves him—and the reader—with an unanswered question.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Lost Camel
Four travelers describe a lost camel they never saw—lame, one-eyed, short-tailed, and belly-sick—and a king makes them ministers.
Indian Folk Tales
The Magic Fiddle
Jealous wives drown a cooking sister with a spirit's help; she returns via a bamboo fiddle, marries a chief's son, and faces her brothers.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Magic Pitcher
A woodcutter who leaves his family to live with four fairies demands their magic food-giving pitcher, then hides it, boasts about it, and breaks it.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Magic Shoes and Staff
Putraka, a generous young king whose own father plots his murder, tricks two brothers out of flying shoes, a wishing staff and a magic bowl.
Tales of the Sun (South India)
Ages 9-12
The Mother-in-Law Who Became a Donkey
A cruel wife sends her mother to copy her mother-in-law’s magic mango wish, but the goddess sees through the lie and turns her into a donkey.
Jataka Tales
The Pigeon and the Crow
A crow befriends a pigeon to reach the kitchen's fish, then fakes illness to stay behind. His theft leads to a cruel punishment and death while the pigeon leaves.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Poisoned Food
A young pilgrim shares rice with a starving elder; serpent venom from a kite’s meal kills the old man, and villagers blame the helper.
Indian Folk Tales
The Rat’s Wedding
A Rat's helpful gifts become ever larger demands until he claims a human bride. Her return to her family ends his boasts with a cruel punishment.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Ruby Prince
A Brahmin's red stone becomes Ruby Prince; married to a princess, he is claimed by a snake-king until she wins him back by a dance.
Indian Folk Tales
The Snake Prince
A poor woman finds a snake in her brass pot that turns into jewels, then a baby prince—whose bride’s curiosity later sends him back into the river.