The Wooden Bowl

(David Langerfeld)

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. "We must do something about father," said the son. "I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor." So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl!

When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometime he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

The Elephant Rope

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not. He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.” The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were. Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Moral: Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.

The Little Mouse

Once upon a time there was a Baby Mouse and Mother Mouse. They lived in a hole in the skirting board in a big, warm house with lots of cheese to eat, where they wanted for nothing. Then, one day, Mother Mouse decided to take Baby Mouse outside of their home. Waiting outside for them was a huge ginger tomcat, licking it’s lips and waiting to eat them both up.

“Mother, Mother! What should we do?” Cried Baby Mouse, clinging to his mother’s tail. Mother Mouse paused, staring up into the beady eyes of the hungry cat. But she wasn't scared, because she knew exactly how to deal with big, scary cats. She opened her mouth and took in a deep breath.

“Woof! Woof! Bark bark bark!” She shouted, and the cat ran away as fast as he could. “Wow, Mother! That was amazing!” Baby Mouse said to his mother, smiling happily. “And that, my child, is why it is always best to have a second language.”

The Frogs & The Tower

(By Jennifer Fisher)

Once there was a bunch of tiny frogs. who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.

The race began. Honestly, no-one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. One could hear statements such as: "Oh, WAY too difficult!!", "They will NEVER make it to the top". "Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!" The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one.

Except for those who in a fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher. The crowd continued to yell "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!" More tiny frogs got tired and gave up. 

But ONE continued higher and higher and higher. This one wouldn't give up! At the end, everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top! 

THEN all the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to climb the tower? A contestant asked the tiny frog how the one who succeeded had found the strength to reach the goal? It turned out. That the winner was deaf.

Moral: Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be negative or pessimistic because they can take away your most wonderful dreams and wishes. Always think of the power which words have because everything you hear and read will affect your actions! Therefore, always be positive and above all, be deaf when people tell you that you cannot fulfil your dreams! Always think: “I can do this!”

The Woman and The Bread

A woman baked chapatti (roti) for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra chapatti on the window sill, for whosoever would take it away. Every day, a hunchback came and took away the chapatti. Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” This went on, day after day. Every day, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and uttered the words. “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” The woman felt irritated. “Not a word of gratitude,” she said to herself… “ Every Day this hunchback utters this jingle! What does he mean?” One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this hunchback,” she said. 

And what did she do? She added poison to the chapatti she prepared for him! As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled. “What is this I am doing?” she said. Immediately, she threw the chapatti into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window sill. As usual, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and muttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman.

Every day, as the woman placed the chapatti on the window sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. For many months, she had no news of him. She prayed for his safe return. That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway. He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his mother, he said, “Mom, it’s a miracle I’m here. While I was but a mile away, I was so famished that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by. I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was

kind enough to give me a whole chapatti. 

As he gave it to me, he said, “This is what I eat everyday: today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!” ” As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned chapatti that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life!

It was then that she realised the significance of the words: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

Moral: Do good and don't ever stop doing good, even if it is not appreciated at that time.

Sharpening Skills

Once there was a group of men - a young hot-blooded, strong chap and a big number of old folks, doing timber job (Wood cutting) in a jungle. This young chap is very hard working. He always continues to work through his break time and complains that those old folks were wasting time, taking break few times a day to drink and chat. 

The first day, the young woodcutter brought 15 trees. "Congratulations," the boss said, "Carry on with your work!" Highly motivated by the words of his boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring 10 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he was only able to bring 7 trees. 

Day after day he was bringing less and less trees. As times goes by, this young chap noticed that even though he worked through break time and hardly took a rest, those old folks are chopping the same amount of trees as he did and sometimes did more than he did.

It was as if those old folks work through the break time as he did. So he decided to work harder the next day, unfortunately the results were even worse. "I must be losing my strength." The young woodcutter thought. 

One day, one of the old folk invited him for a drink during their break time. That young chap refused and said he has no extra time to spend! Then the old man smiled to him and said it was just a waste of effort to keep chopping trees without re-sharpening your Axe. Sooner or later you will give up or be so exhausted as you have spent too much energy. 

Suddenly the young chap realised that actually during break times while those old folks were having a chat, they were also re-sharpening their Axe at the same time! And that's how they can chop faster than him and yet spending lesser time! 

The old folk said what we need is efficiency by making use of our skill and ability intelligently. Only then can we have more times to do other things.

The Perfectionist

The Perfectionist

A gentleman once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God.

Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, “Do you need two statues of the same idol?”

“No,” said the sculptor without looking up, “We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage.”

The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. “Where is the damage?” he asked.

“There is a scratch on the nose of the idol.” said the sculptor, still busy with his work.

“Where are you going to install the idol?”

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high.

“If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?” the gentleman asked.

The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said,

“I know it and God knows it!”

Moral – The desire to excel should be exclusive of the fact whether someone appreciates it or not. Excellence is a drive from inside, not outside. 

Excel at a task today – not necessarily for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction.