Karna was born wearing golden armour and earrings that kept him safe from any weapon. He also made a promise never to refuse anyone who asked him for a gift at midday. One day, a visitor comes to test that promise.
Four thirsty brothers drink from a beautiful lake and fall to the ground. When the fifth, Yudhishthira, arrives, a voice tells him he may drink only after answering its questions. His life, and theirs, depends on his answers.
Two young friends in New York promise to meet in the same doorway exactly twenty years later. One of them keeps the appointment. O. Henry's story of loyalty and duty.
A hungry jackal falls into a tub of blue dye and comes out a colour no animal has ever seen. The whole forest bows to him. But can he keep his secret?
A bored young shepherd finds a funny way to bring the whole village running up the hill. It works once. It works twice.
An old emperor gives every child in the land a single seed. Whoever grows the finest flower, he says, will rule after him. One boy's seed will not grow.
A hungry fox spots a bunch of shining purple grapes, high up on a vine. He jumps and jumps. Then he says something very interesting.
In June 1215, in a riverside meadow in England, an unpopular king was forced to accept a list of promises. It failed within weeks, yet its ideas have outlived every king since.
On a stormy night, a dripping-wet girl knocks at the palace gate and says she is a real princess. The queen has a clever, rather strange way to find out.
Six men who have never seen an elephant each touch a different part of one, and each is certain he knows exactly what it is. An ancient parable from India.
A clever monkey shares sweet fruit with a crocodile every day. But one afternoon, halfway across the river, his friend tells him a terrible secret.
Two tricksters sell a vain emperor cloth that only clever people can see. Everyone pretends, until one child says what they all can see.
Mathilde borrows a diamond necklace for one glittering night at a ball. When it disappears, she and her husband pay for it with ten years of their lives.
Tavi didn't mean to break his sister's kite. Hiding it seemed easy, but keeping a secret turned out to be much heavier than telling the truth.
