A Tale from Ancient Greece There was once a man who had a beautiful cat. She was so loving that one day he wished out loud, ‘Dear Cat, if you were only a woman, I’d marry you.’ Aphrodite, the goddess of love, heard his wish and changed...
A Tale from Ancient Greece Zeus, the King of Mount Olympus was giving out gifts to beasts and birds and insects one day. To his surprise, the little honeybee came before his throne and said, ‘Of all the gifts you could give to me, only one...
A Sufi Story from The Middle East Mula bet some friends he could survive a night on an icy mountain with nothing to warm him. Taking only a book and a candle for some light, he sat through the frigid night. When he came down to claim his winnings...
A Tale from West Africa Turtles used to live on the land, they say, until the time a clever turtle was caught by some hunters. They brought him to their village and placed the turtle before the Chief, who asked, ‘How shall we cook him?’...
A Fable from India The animals of the forest made a bargain with a ferocious lion who killed for pleasure. It was agreed that one animal each day would willingly go to the ferocious lion’s den to be his supper, and in turn, the lion would never hunt...
An Eastern European Folktale There was once a man who wished his small, noisy house was larger and quieter. He went to the wise old woman of the town and explained his need. She said, ‘I can solve your problem. Just do as I say.’ The man...
A Folktale from West Africa Foolish Anansi thought he could trick a fisherman into doing his work for him. ‘Let’s go fishing,’ he suggested. ‘Very well,’ said the fisherman, who was clever and quite wise to Anansi’s tricks...
A Greek Myth There was once a king named Midas who did a good deed for a Satyr and was granted a wish by the god of wine, Dionysus. For his wish, Midas asked that whatever he touched would turn to gold. Although Dionysus tried to dissuade him, Midas...
