These are two short stories for Kids from the Panchantantra. They talk about the importance of sharing not just for a relationship, but also for the individual. These are also great stories for examples of different ways to resolve conflicts
Short Story one : The Monkey and the Cats
In the tiny village of Alagarkovil, lived two cats. They were called Pooche and Poone. Pooche and Poone were very good friends. They usually liked to run around the dense foliage that covered the village. They shared their food with each other and lived a harmonious life.
The thing you should know about this wonderful village was that it was situated on a hill. The hilltop had a beautiful temple dedicated to lord “alagar”.
Because this was a hill covered with dense forest, there were many monkeys that lived in the outskirts of the village. Usually all the animals had enough to eat.
But, once in the peak of summer, there was no rainfall and everything was in short supply including food. Pooche and Poone had been walking around for hours and not come across much to eat. As they were about to give up and rest for the day, they found a roti just behind a bush.
Pooche sprang for it first but Poone also reached the roti at about the same time. They began to fight about who gets the roti.
Now, one of the monkeys had also come in search of the food and he saw Pooche and Poone fighting over the roti. He immediately formed a plan in his mind. He went over to Pooche and Poone and offered to help them.
He tore the roti into two pieces, but one piece was small and the other was big. He put the small piece into his own mouth and said he would divide the big piece equally between the two cats. But, he once again tore two different size pieces and ate the small piece. He continued this till there was no roti left .
Pooche and Poone were so disappointed, but they also learnt their lesson. They realized that they should never have fought in the first place.
Parenting Takeaway:
This a great story on sharing and conflict resolution. When you get a mediator for resolving the conflict, it is better to get a trusted person else both the people fighting will lose itThis story is based on a pancnatantra tale. The place Alagarkovil is real and has a beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Alagar. It is situated near Madurai, in the state of Tamil Nadu. Explore the Map of Tamil Nadu here.
Story two: Bharunda's Two heads
Bharunda was a bird that lived deep in the jungles of India. Bharunda was not a regular bird . He was resplendent in his red and blue plumage. But, that was not the irregular or unique thing about him. His unique feature was that he had two heads on a single body.
Head one and head two got along well on most occasions. Sometimes, the two heads would fight. The days when they fought would be very tough. Imagine if you fought with a friend and you had to share a body with him and be within two inches of his nose!! Both the heads realized that it is best not to fight too much because they wanted their days to be pleasant.
One of these days, head one found a very tasty and juicy fruit. He got very selfish and wanted it just for himself and not share it with head two. Head two wanted a share, but head one wouldn’t budge. Head finished the tasty and juicy fruit all by himself.
Head two was beside himself with rage. He wanted to teach head one a lesson for not sharing his fruit with him. So, he started hatching plans.The next day, as they were walking by head two found a tree with poisonous fruit. He thought, “I now have an opportunity to teach my brother a lesson.” He ran towards the poisonous fruit and started pecking at it. Head one was fully alarmed, because the poisonous fruit would kill both of them.Head one tried to dissuade head two, but head two wouldn’t listen. At this time, their friend the monkey came and he said, “ Dear head two, do you not see what will happen if you have this fruit? Not only will your brother die, you will die too if you have more of this fruit.”
Head two realized his mistake and stopped eating the fruit. Head one also realized that he was wrong in not having shared fruit and apologized to head two.From that day on both the heads shared their food with each other and tried to live a harmonious life
Parenting Takeaway:
There are three morals in this story. The first one is that we must share with our siblings and friends. The second one is that when we seek revenge we often end up harming ourselves. The third moral from the story is that when there is a conflict between two people, a third friend can resolve the conflict
Conflict is an important part of human life. When people come together conflict is bound to happen, but we need to find a way to amicably resolve the conflict
These short stories are intended as conversation starters . Do check out our other offerings here
