All Stories
Browse our complete collection of folk tales, Panchatantra stories, and moral stories from around the world.
African Folk Tales
The Ungrateful Man
A poor hunter frees a leopard, a serpent, a rat and a man from a pit; the animals reward him, but the rescued man betrays him for the king’s gold.
African Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Thunder and Anansi
Starving Anansi dives into the sea and wins a magic food-pot from Thunder, but his secret greed earns him a very different gift the second time.
African Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Tit for Tat
Anansi tracks his son to a secret hunting ground and steals it, so Kweku Tsin hangs a nodding, jingling little image in the path to win the meat back.
African Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Why Spiders Are Always Found in the Corners of Ceilings
Egya Anansi sends his family away so he can secretly eat the whole harvest, until a sticky rubber-man set in the fields catches the thief at last.
African Folk Tales
Why the Lizard Continually Moves His Head Up and Down
Anansi learns three princesses’ secret names with honeyed fruit, but when Lizard wins the brides, the spider plots a cruel revenge with the king’s cock.
African Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Why the Moon and the Stars Receive Their Light from the Sun
Captured by a fire-breathing dragon, Kweku Tsin plans a rope-ladder escape to the sky using rice, bones and a magic fiddle, and becomes the sun.
African Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Why Tigers Never Attack Men Unless They Are Provoked
A hunter and a tiger become friends and visit each other’s homes, until a hidden shot makes the tiger wonder whether his friend betrayed him.
African Folk Tales
Why We See Ants Carrying Bundles as Big as Themselves
Greedy Anansi kills the king’s rain-making dwarf and is cursed to carry the body in a box forever, until he tricks honest Mr Ant into holding it.
African Folk Tales
Why White Ants Always Harm Man’s Property
Spider wins back a stolen antelope by tricking Wolf and Leopard, then steals the feast meant for the white ants who freed them, with bitter results.
African Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Crocodile’s Treason
In a drought, Crocodile wins a peace treaty so Lion’s animals will escort the water creatures past the Boer’s farm, but he has planned a betrayal.
African Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Elephant and Tortoise
After Elephant quarrels with Rain, he leaves little Tortoise guarding the last lagoon, but Lion drinks anyway and Elephant’s punishment backfires.
African Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Jackal and Monkey
Caught swinging in the Boer’s snare after stealing lambs, Jackal convinces a mocking Monkey that swinging is fun, and Monkey takes his place.