Nuts or Stones - Finny learns a good lesson

One day Finny fox was very hungry. He looked longingly at the bunch of juicy grapes hanging from the grape vine. He had tried to jump and grab the grapes several times in the past but they were too high. Today he was determined to eat the grapes. He sat below the tree and thought hard. Just then he noticed Monty squirrel running here and there looking for nuts to eat.

Finny fox's face lit up with hope. He called out to Monty squirrel “Hello! You seem to be busy looking for something”.

"Yes" replied Monty Squirrel. “I am looking for some nuts to eat”.

"I can help you" said Finny fox. "I know a place where there is a heap of nuts".

"Really? That is so nice of you" said Monty squirrel. "Please tell me where this place is".

"Not so fast" said Finny fox drumming his fingers on the ground. "First, you need to do something for me".

"Sure, what is it?" asked Monty squirrel.

"Bring me the juicy grapes hanging from the vine. After I have had my full, I will tell you where you can find the nuts" said Finny fox

"Sure, I will be happy to do this for you" said Monty squirrel.

He ran up to the branch where the grapes were hanging. He plucked two grapes for he could not carry more than that in his tiny paws. He then ran down to Finny fox who was sitting impatiently under the tree.

Monty squirrel had to run up and down the tree several times bringing the grapes to Finny fox who would eat them in no time.

After the whole bunch of grapes was eaten, Finny fox casually got up and started to walk away.

"Wait! I have brought you all the grapes as you asked. Now please tell me where I can find the pile of nuts" cried Monty squirrel anxiously.

"Oh, I quite forgot" said Finny fox with a cunning smile. "It is there by the riverside. Come, I will show you".

Monty squirrel hopped on to the river side but all he saw there was a pile of small white pebbles.

"These are not nuts. These are just pebbles" cried Monty squirrel in despair.

"Oh really? In the forest where I come from, we call them nuts" said Finny fox and walked away.

Monty squirrel understood that he had been cheated. He decided to teach Finny fox a lesson.

After a couple of weeks, he saw Finny fox again.

"Brother, are you looking for some more grapes?" asked Monty squirrel.

"Yes" replied Finny fox.

"Well, the grapes are not yet ripe. Would you like some nuts instead?  asked Monty squirrel.

"Sure" replied Finny fox.

"These are special nuts that you have never eaten. Please sit with your eyes closed. Only then you can enjoy the taste fully" said Monty squirrel.

The greedy fox closed his eyes and waited eagerly for the nuts. Monty squirrel brought some pebbles and put them in Finny fox's mouth saying "Be sure to chew them hard as they are dry and crisp" and climbed back to the tree.

Finny fox bit hard onto the pebbles and cried in pain.

"Phoo!" he spit them out. "These are nothing but pebbles!"

"Pebbles?" asked Monty squirrel, from the tree "After our last meeting, I remembered, we also call them nuts here. Thank you for reminding me".

Finny fox walked away shame faced.


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The Bees Get Stung

One day, deep in the jungle, a swarm of bees started building their hive on a big tree right next to the river. The river was the place where the mighty lion, the tall giraffe, the quick gazelle, the ever alert deer, the restless monkeys, in fact all animals, big and small came to quench their thirst.

Now the bees were actually a swarm of rogue bees. They did not like anyone coming near their hive. Any animal or bird that came that way got buzzed and chased by the bees. No one dared to stand up to the bees for everyone knew a bee sting could be very painful. The bees even drove away the birds and monkeys who had made the tree their home. All this meant that animals on this side of the river neither could walk up to the river for a drink nor rest under the giant tree in the hot afternoons.

The monkeys and parrots who got driven away from the tree decided to go and meet Arjuna, the king of the forest. 

Arjuna was perched on his throne when Bhadra, his minister, brought the monkeys and parrots to him.

“Greetings, my king” said the monkeys and parrots.

“Tell me, what brings you here?” Arjuna asked.

Kapila, the head of the monkeys said "My lord, we live on the big tree on the river bank. Recently a swarm of rogue bees have made their hive on the tree. They have driven all of us away from the tree”.

“Yes, my lord” said Mithi, the leader of the parrots. “Not only have we been driven away from the tree, the animals on our side of the jungle have not been able to use that route to drink water from the river. The bees chase and sting anyone who comes that way.”

“That is very arrogant of them” said Arjuna “I will send two of my soldiers right away to teach those bees a lesson”.

The monkeys and parrots came to the tree accompanied by the king’s soldiers who were two giant bears. Now we all know there is nothing that a bear loves more than fresh honey. As soon as the bears saw the hive, they started attacking it to get the honey out. The bees flew all over them buzzing furiously and stinging them but the bears had such thick skin that the stings did them no harm at all. In a short while, the hive was ruined and all the honey eaten. The bears smacked their lips and rubbed their tummies happily.

The bees were flying around not knowing what to do when all of a sudden they were drenched by big sprays of water. All the animals who had gathered to watch the bears turned around to see where the water had come from. They clapped and cheered as they saw the herd of elephants fill their trunks with water and spray the bees. The bees tried to fly away but they could not fly very far with their wet wings. They soon collapsed on the ground exhausted. 

Kapila, the monkey chief, came forward and said to the bees “If you cannot live here in peace, then you should better go away from here. If all the animals in this jungle turn against you, you would be no match against them”.

The bees realized that they had been very foolish. They apologized to all the animals around them and promised to live and let live. All the animals once again started using that way to come to the river to drink water and rest under the shade of the tree. 

In a matter of days, the bees had once again rebuilt their hive and filled it with delicious honey. The bears could often be seen sitting under the hive with their tongues out to catch the little drops of honey dripping from the hive.


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