# The Talkative Tortoise *Adapted from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs (1892)* — Long ago in the ancient kingdom of Benares, there lived a wise minister who served as the king’s adviser in both worldly and spiritual matters. This minister was actually the future Buddha in one of his many lives before attaining enlightenment. […]
# The Hermit’s Daughter *Adapted from Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit, translated by S. M. Mitra (1919)* — Near the town of Ikshumati in India, on the banks of a beautiful wide river bordered by trees from a great forest, lived a holy man named Mana Kanaka. He spent much of his life in prayer […]
# A Clever Thief *Adapted from Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit, translated by S. M. Mitra (1919)* — In a small Indian village where no one was wealthy and everyone worked hard for their daily bread, lived a man named Hari-Sarman. Unlike his hardworking neighbors, Hari-Sarman was extraordinarily lazy, as was his wife Vidya. They […]
# The Beetle and the Silken Thread *Adapted from Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit, translated by S. M. Mitra (1919)* — In the sacred city of Allahabad—”the City of God”—situated near the meeting point of India’s holy rivers, the Ganges and the Jumna, there once lived a powerful ruler named Surya Pratap, meaning “Powerful as […]
# The Jewelled Arrow *Adapted from Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit, translated by S. M. Mitra (1919)* — In the ancient Indian city of Vardhamana lived a powerful king named Vira-Bhuja. Like many rulers of his time, he had several wives, each with sons of their own. Among all his queens, the king loved Guna-Vara […]
# The Magic Shoes and Staff *Adapted from Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit, translated by S. M. Mitra (1919)* — In the ancient Indian town of Chinchini, where the old gods were said to sometimes appear to those who called upon them for help, three brothers of noble birth lived in comfort with their beloved […]
# A Royal Thief-Catcher *Adapted from Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit, translated by S. M. Mitra (1919)* — In the small city of Sravasti, a crowd gathered one scorching day to observe a weary stranger who had just entered their town. The man walked with great difficulty, his feet sore from traveling long distances on […]
# The Story of a Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard, and an Owl *Adapted from Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit, translated by S. M. Mitra (1919)* — In a magnificent banyan tree outside the walls of Vidisa, four unlikely neighbors made their homes. None were friends, and each lived in constant awareness of the others. […]