Category: World Folk Tales
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The Magic Cauldron
Nasreddin Hodja or Nasruddin Hooja was a 13th-century satirist born in Turkey. He appears in many stories, which are funny, entertaining and thoughtful. While he seems wise in some stories, he is foolish and the target of jokes in others. Hodja had a greedy neighbor who enjoyed praying on innocent victims and cheating him. Wanting…
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Why Sea Water is Salty?
According to an ancient Korean folktale, there was once a time when there was no salt in seawater. So how did seawater become salty? Let us find out. Once upon a time in Korea, there lived an extremely wealthy and generous King. The secret to the King’s wealth was a magic millstone. While millstones generally…
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Stone Soup
Once, a poor traveler was travelling in search of a livelihood. During the day, he would travel, and during the night, he would stop at one of the villages on the way for food and shelter. One time, he stopped at a small village for the night. Since he had no money or food, he…
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The Rabbit’s Judgement
There was once a village on the outskirts of a forest. A man-eating tiger wreaked havoc in the village. One day, the villagers called for a council. “We need to do something about the tiger,” said one of the villagers. “I have lost a few sheep to it. Yesterday, when I was walking in the…
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Judge Hodja
Nasreddin Hodja or Nasruddin Hooja was a 13th-century satirist born in Turkey. He appears in many stories, which are funny, entertaining and thoughtful. While he seems wise in some stories, he is foolish and the target of jokes in others. There was once a poor man who had no home. All he had was the…
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The Tiger and the Persimmon
This is a folk tale from Korea. Persimmon is an Oriental fruit grown predominantly in China, Korea, Japan. One night, a man-eating tiger entered a village from a nearby forest. “I am hungry. Let me find someone to eat,” thought the tiger. Just then, it heard the sound of a baby crying from a house.…
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Light of the Oil Lamp
Nasreddin Hodja or Nasruddin Hooja was a 13th-century satirist born in Turkey. He appears in many stories, which are funny, entertaining and thoughtful. While he seems wise in some stories, he is foolish and the target of jokes in others. Tired of being the target of Hodja’s jokes, his friends decided to teach Hodja a…
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Momotaro
Once upon a time, there lived a sweet old couple in a small village in Japan. They did not have any children, and it was a source of never-ending sorrow for them. The man was a woodcutter who went to the mountains to chop wood to sell. One day, the man went to gather food…
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Three Charms and The Mountain Witch
There was once a boy who lived in a temple in the mountains. He was an apprentice to the priest of the temple. The boy was very naughty and loved to play pranks on everyone. He was forever troubling everyone, and the head priest was perpetually frustrated with him. When not playing tricks, the boy…
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The Rooster and the Dragon
Do you know there was once a time when roosters had horns? So what happened to them? Let us find out. There once lived a rooster on a farm. The rooster had horns which was his pride and joy. One day a dragon came to the rooster and asked him, “Brother, can you lend me…
Kavi ram 