A goat, an ass and a camel were walking down a road when they came upon a bundle of hay that had fallen from a cart.
“This hay looks delicious,” said the goat, “but it’s not enough for all three of us. Let the oldest among us have it.”
“Then it should go to me,” said the ass. “Do you know, I was in Delhi, when Nadir Shah entered it in triumph in 1739...that makes me at least 250 years old.”
“A child compared to me,” snorted the goat. “I was one of the animals that was driven from Delhi to Daulatabad when that madman, Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq shifted his capital....”
They suddenly noticed that the camel was calmly nibbling at the straw.
“What are you doing!” shouted the goat.
“Why, didn’t you say the oldest should have it?” said the camel. “The two of you may be centuries old but look at me...look at my knobby joints and wrinkled skin.....could either of you be older than me?”
And before the other two could think of a reply, the camel picked up the bundle of hay and walked away.

Unknown "Socks" - 16 years, 11 months, 4 days ago

A dog and a donkey were going to the market with their master. It was a very long walk across a mountainous path. At noon, the master ate the little food he had brought along, unloaded the donkey, and settled down under a tree for a nap. The donkey began to eat the grass growing there, but there was nothing for the dog to eat.
“There are some loaves among the load you were carrying,” said the dog to the donkey. “Let’s take one and share it between ourselves.”
“Wait till the master gets up!” said the donkey, tersely. “He’ll feed you then.”
Just then a ravenous wolf came into view.
“Help me, help me, dog!” pleaded the donkey, quavering in fear.
“I’m so hungry I don’t have the strength to do anything,” replied the dog. “Wait till the master gets up. He’ll certainly help you.”
—Jean de La Fontaine
Unknown "Socks" - 16 years, 11 months, 4 days ago

An eagle once promised an owl in return for a favour, that he would never ever harm the owl’s chicks.
“But do you know what my chicks look like?” asked the mother owl doubtfully. “How can I be sure that you won’t mistake them for some other bird’s?”
“Well,” said the eagle. “Describe them to me, so that I can recognise them.”
“Actually, they cannot be mistaken for any other bird’s,” said the owl, her chest puffing up with pride. “They are soft, fluffy, and by far the prettiest young ones you could ever see.”
One evening, the eagle came upon a nest filled with screeching fledglings, their red mouths agape. He paused, then thought, “Surely these are not the owl’s chicks. She said they are very beautiful, but these chicks look hideous.” And he swooped down without a second thought and ate them all.
Returning to her nest, the mother owl found it empty save for a few bloodied feathers.
“How could the eagle have forgotten his promise?”she wailed. “I told him my chicks were the most beautiful in the world!”

Moral: Every mother thinks that her own children are the best.
(Adapted from a fable by the 17th-century French writer, Jean de la Fontaine)
Unknown "Socks" - 16 years, 11 months, 4 days ago

A fly was flying around a web but it seemed reluctant to land, so finally the resident spider poked its head out and invited it in.
“No, thank you,” said the fly. “I was looking for other flies but I don’t see any. I only feel safe in a crowd.”
The fly streaked away. Presently, it came across a large number of flies sitting on a large piece of paper.
“Don’t land!” warned a bee flying past. “ It’s flypaper. All those flies are stuck to it!”
“What nonsense,” retorted the fly. “They’re enjoying themselves! See they’re dancing!!”
“They’re not dancing! They’re trying to free themselves!!” yelled the bee, but the fly wasn’t listening.
It settled on the flypaper, and got stuck.

Moral: ‘Safety in Numbers’ may be a good slogan, but it’s not always true.
Unknown "Socks" - 16 years, 11 months, 4 days ago

A magician was demonstrating his tricks at a country fair, on an open-air stage. He got loud applause when he took out a rabbit from his hat.
Unknown to the magician and the spectators, a tiger was watching the show from behind some bushes, nearby. Later that night, the tiger waylaid the magician as he was going home.
“I saw you pull a rabbit out of your hat,” he said. “Pull out a cub for me!”
“The rabbit was in the bag all the time,” blurted the magician, trembling from head to toe. “I cannot create animals out of thin air!”
“Produce a tiger cub if you know what’s good for you!” snarled the beast.
“All right, all right!” said the magician, thinking fast. “But it’ll take some time. A month at least.”
“I can wait!”
“There’s another thing,” said the magician, a plan forming in his mind. “You’ll have to stay on a diet of milk and rice during the entire period!”
“Milk and rice!”
“Otherwise the trick will not work.”
“All right,” said the tiger, finally. “ I’ll live on milk and rice.”
He went away and returned a month later.
“Now let me have the cub,” he said, in a barely audible voice, his diet having made him extremely weak.
The magician called the whole village to witness the magic trick.
“This is a special show for our guest here,” he announced. “So instead of pulling out a rabbit from my hat I’ll pull out a young member of his family.”
He muttered some mumbo-jumbo, passed his hands over the hat several times, and then with a loud cry plunged his hand into the hat and pulled out a small cuddly animal.
“A kitten!” guffawed the spectators.
The kitten meowed.
The tiger was not amused. He let out a mighty roar, or at least he had intended to roar but in his weakened state the sound that emerged from his mouth was a loud
“MEEEEE-OOOWWW!”
The villagers rocked with laughter. The tiger felt so ashamed that he leapt out of his seat and ran away, and was never seen again.

Unknown "Socks" - 16 years, 11 months, 4 days ago