Fairy tale information

Once upon a time in Turkey, the villagers were complaining about their viziers, the local officials. "They never stop arguing," the people whispered to one another. "They'll argue about anything. They're all fools." Now the viziers heard the gossip, and so they decided they must prove they were not fools. One sweet spring day they walked together through the village. When they reached the outskirts of the village, they turned around to walk back. But just then one of the men spotted something shimmering in the field."What's that?" the first vizier asked. "It's a jewel," the second vizier declared. "Let us use this to buy ourselves a feast," the first vizier said. "We'll celebrate our comradeship.""No, let us ..." the second vizier began. "Why don't we..." began a third, but he ...

Once upon a time in the forests at the foot of the Himalayas, thousands of elephants lived peacefully. Their leader was a magnificent white elephant.One day while walking through the forest, the white elephant stepped on a thorn that plunged deep into his foot. The pain was agonizing, and as he limped home, he happened to pass a family of loggers hard at work. When the loggers saw the elephant hobbling past, they ran to help. "What's wrong?" the men asked, and the poor elephant lay down and lifted his foot. When the men saw the wound, they quickly pulled the thorn out. The elephant was deeply grateful, and as he walked home in the dusk, he promised he would never forget their kindness. When his foot was healed, he returned to the spot where the loggers were hard at work. As the elephan ...

Long ago the creator of the Micmac, Gisoolg, created the great chief Glooscap with three strokes of lightning. From his home, Glooscap watched over the creatures of the Earth and taught them important lessons. One of these lessons was: "The best way to catch a weasel is to think like a weasel." Ableegumooch the Rabbit always paid close attention to Glooscap, and he remembered Glooscap's words, though for a long time he did not quite understand their meaning. One day he and his friend Keoonik the Otter were chasing each other. After running for a while, they realized they were very near the home of Uskoos the weasel. They decided to pay him a visit. But, just as they approached the doorway, Ableegumooch and Keeonik heard a noise in the house. It was a meeting of all the weasels and mice. ...

Once upon a time, the god Maui cast a fishhook into the sea and pulled up the islands we call Hawaii. Maui was small but very strong. He was also a mischief maker, with boundless energy and never-ending curiosity. His mind was always at work, inventing and discovering new things.One day he was walking near his home on the island of Hilo. As usual, he felt restless. "I need to do something brand-new," he thought. Maui was searching for adventure when he saw his mother carrying a roll of paper cloth known as kapa."That's it," Maui thought, and when his mother laid her kapa on the ground and turned her back, Maui snatched a piece of the cloth. He hurried to the riverbank. There he sat, folding the cloth this way and that. Before long he had invented the kite. "Now what?" he wondered as h ...

Once upon a time three friends, the monkey, the fox, and the hare lived together in the forest.One day Buddha began to wonder about the animals' true nature. Was the monkey truly generous? Was the fox always kind? Was the hare as peaceful as he seemed?Buddha decided he would test the animals, and so he disguised himself as a poor priest. He dressed in rags, and hobbling upon a cane he limped into the forest where the creatures lived. Before long the priest came upon the monkey. When the monkey spotted the priest, he called out cheerfully, "Hello, sir. Lovely day, don't you think?" The priest bowed his head and said sorrowfully, "Ah, it would be a lovely day indeed if I weren't so terribly hungry." "Hungry?" the monkey said, "I can help you there. I can offer you plenty of fruit," and ...