Greed & Consequences
Stories in which the desire for wealth, status or more than a fair share changes what characters do. Follow the moment when a wish becomes harmful, and examine the consequences for bystanders as well as the person seeking the reward. A spectacular punishment can itself raise questions about fairness.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Dschang Liang
After a failed ambush on the First Emperor, Dschang Liang fetches an old man’s shoe, passes a test of patience, and receives a book of hidden wisdom.
Chinese Folk Tales
Black Arts
A young man who marries into a family of hill sorcerers survives a poisoned feast and a dragon only by heeding his clever wife, who flees with him.
Russian Folk Tales
The Golden Mountain
Tricked into digging gold on a mountaintop and left there to die, a ruined merchant's son escapes with a girl's gift and turns the trick on his master.
Japanese Folk Tales
The Story of the Man Who Did Not Wish to Die
Sentaro wants to live forever, so a saint sends him on a paper crane to an island where nobody can die and everyone longs to, until a shark tests his wish.
Japanese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Adventures of Kintaro, the Golden Boy
A boy of amazing strength grows up wrestling with mountain animals until a disguised general sees him uproot a tree and takes him to become a samurai.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Sir Buzz
A soldier’s son pulls a thorn from a tigress’s paw and is given a box, and out jumps a tiny, bad-tempered man who can fly like a bee.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Bear’s Bad Bargain
A bear carries a huge load of wood for a promised share of khichri, but the couple eat it all. A sneeze later leaves them with his wood and a pot of pears.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Beetle and the Silken Thread
A wise vizier is left to die at the top of a tall tower, and to save him, his wife must bring a beetle, a drop of honey and a thread as fine as a spider's web.
Indian Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Brahman Priest Who Became an Amildar
A king makes his household priest a district governor and gives him three pieces of advice, which the priest follows word for word, with ridiculous results.
Indian Folk Tales
A Lac of Rupees for a Piece of Advice
A poor Brahmin sends his wife to the king with three pieces of advice written on a scrap of paper, and tells her they are worth a lac of rupees.
Indian Folk Tales
The Royal Thief-Catcher
A holy man in Sravasti secretly hoards his gifts under a tree, and when they vanish, the king finds the thief by asking doctors about their patients.
Turkish Folk Tales
The Bronze Ring
A gardener’s son wins a wish-granting bronze ring and a princess, loses the ring to a sorcerer, and gets it back with the help of three mice.