THY CHIPPY QUAILS

                                           JAI MA KALI
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                    THE CHIPPY QUAILS
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   Once upon a time,a large number of quails dwelt in a certain forest.They were a happy lot.Their leader was a very intelligent and prudent bird.They were passing their days blithely.
 As the ill luck would have it,a nimrod used to come daily into the forest and by mimicking the sound of the quail,entice the birds,then spread his net over the gullible birds and incarcerated them and carried them home.
 This became a daily routine.Consequently,the number of the quails started dwindling by leaps and bounds.This made their leader chew the cud to find a remedy for grappling with the problem.He advised his flock:
"Dear chums,henceforth,when the hunter spreads his net and you are snared,then grip a portion of the net by your beaks.Then soaring upwards simultaneously,deposit the net on a thorny bush.While the hunter gets engrossed in realising the net from the bush,all of you flee instantaneously."
 The quails followed this advice seriously.Next time when they were trapped,they lifted the net all together and flew with it to a thorny bush.When the hunter arrived and released the net from the bush,all the birds made made god their escape in the twinkling of an eye.Thus the quails managed to save themselves for a long time.However as the time passed,they grew a tad lethargic and became vainglorious and thought themselves to be invincible.
 One day ,as they were entrapped in the net,a quail by accident trampled upon the foot of another quail.The two began wrangling and soon other also joined in and there was an open warfare .A veritable bedlam was let loose.
Their leader seeing this trilled to himself,"If the pugnacious birds continue this way,they might not be able to escape the net.In sheer desperation,he jettisoned the forest lock,stock and barrel to seek shelter elsewhere.
Then shortly after the hunter spread his net,a large number of the quails were trapped.But instead of flying with the net to a thorny bush,the quails indulged into fueds.
"Why don't you lift the net?"yelled one at another.
"Why don't you?"retorded the other with ire.
 AS it continued, the hunter arrived and it was too late for the quails to escape.
 The hunter made a good catch that day and his spouse let out a yowl of joy to see the catch.
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 MORAL: WHEN UNITY FAILS,DISASTER PREVAILS.
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              ----DEVENDRA SRIVASTAVA
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THE MALCONTENT BOVINE

                                           JAI MA KALI
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            THE  MALCONTENT  BOVINE
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 Once an opulent peasant had a pair of sturdy oxen.One was named'Big Red Ox' and the other who was a tad younger,'Little Red Ox.'
  The two were real brothers.The peasant made them toil and moil from dawn to dusk in his field.They had to lug the plow and do other related works.In return for their services,they received only straw and dry grass to chow down.
    The farmer had a beautiful young daughter of marriageable age.Her marriage was settled and she was to tie the nuptial knot with the son of a croesus,a resident of a nearby town.To kill the fatted calf for the celebration of the wedding and entertain the wedding guests,the peasant copped a pig,which he fed on healthy and scrumptious viands in order to fatten it.
   Seeing the swine being so nicely treated,Little Red Ox one day whimpered to his brother:
  "Respected brother,do you observe how the peasant pampers the pig and fleeces us ruthlessly?The bloody hog does nothing,yet he is given the 'creme de la cr'me'victuals to chomp on.We labor the whole day without any grudge but the master offers us only straw and dry grass to masticate."
    "Oh,calm down.don't envy that hog.His situation is not at all enviable.He will be slaughtered very shortly to feed those wedding guests.The luscious cates it receives are being given with an ulterior motive."consoled Big Red Ox.
     However, Little Red Ox was not mollified.He continued to sizzle with anguish and envy.
   Then one day he was aghast to see the hapless and helpless pig yanked out and ruthlessly butchered.He realised the truth that in spite of poor vittles he received,his situation was far far better.
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MORAL----Better to chew plain fare and live long,than gobble up grand fare and get butchered.
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                   ----DEVENDRA  SRIVASTAVA
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CATARRHINE VS. CACODEMON

                  (JAI MA KALI)
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      CATARRHINE VS. CACODEMON
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  Once a troop of catarrhines lived in a dense forest.Their leader was very intelligent.He knew every nook and cranny of the jungle very well like the palm of his hand as he had seen the light of the earth there.He was also well aware of the fact that the forest was infested with horrible cacodemons and trees bearing highly venomous fruits.So he cautioned his troop of these things:
"Make it a point to consult me prior to nibbling at any thing or quaffing water,"he counseled,"Otherwise you might come to grievous harm."
   Thus,the platyrrhines followed their leader implicitly and unflinchingly.
    One day some catarrhines gallivanted quite far from their habitat.The sweltering heat at that time made their throats parch and they badly needed water to drink.Searching high and low for a lake or river,they spotted a large lake of cool aqua.They trooped there blithely and were about to enter the lake to swill,one platyrrhine suddenly gibbered:
"Have you forgotten the warning of our leader?We must consult him first."
  "Yes,"assented some in chorus.
 As the leader was not there at that time,the others were adamant to swill the water.At this,a frightful argument arose among themselves.Blows were exchanged and some of them got badly battered. 
 Fortunately,their leader arrived there in the nick of time before the situation went out of control.He dashed to examine the lake.
 The wise leader noticed that there were footprints entering the lake but none came out again.So he claimed that a cacodemon lived in the water.He cautioned his troop not to go near the lake.
  At that very moment,a cacodemon emerged out of the water and burst into peals of laughter to know how thirsty the catarrhines were.He threw the gauntlet to them;
 "Just dare to quaff water from the lake,I will gormandize all of you in the twinkling of an eye."
 The leader felt humiliated and offended.He chewed the cud for a way to drink water without getting close to the lake.An idea struck him.He put together a number of hollow reeds,like a straw and slid one end into the water.The other end he popped in his mouth and from a safe distance sucked up the water.
 All the other platyrrhines swigged the water one by one.They jeered the the cacodemon as he looked on helplessly and powerless,yammering with unbridled fury as unless they entered the lake he could not gobble up them.

MORAL------THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED GOAL.
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                  -------DEVENDRA SRIVASTAVA.