He felt so foolish that he laughed and laughed at
himself until he fell asleep.
Moral: ¡°It is silly to fear anything without com-
plete knowledge of it.¡±
The Bees and the Beetles
Far away on the hills, there was a forest full of
many different trees and plants. Different kinds of
animals, birds and insects also lived in the forest.
There was a huge beehive on a tall tree. The Bees
were always busy collecting honey and filling their
combs.
On another old tree, close to the tree with the
beehive, was a colony of Beetles. They lived in
the old tree trunk.
The Bees and Beetles were very good neighbours.
They never troubled each other and always went
their own ways. They lived peacefully with each
other.
One day, the friendly Bees invited the Beetles
for dinner. The Beetles arrived and dinner was
served.
The Bees offered the Beetles some of the best
honey that they had.
The Beetles did not like the taste of honey. They
barely ate anything but politely thanked the bees
and then flew away.
The next day, all the Beetles invited the Bees over
for dinner.
A plate full of dung was served to the Bees. The
Bees could not eat even a single bite.
They remained hungry but they politely thanked
the beetles for their hospitality and flew back
home.
Moral: Two people can have different likes and
dislikes, but still they can be good and polite
friends.
THE MARBLE STATUE
In the middle of a beautiful city, there was a
museum laid with beautiful marble tiles and with
a huge marble statue as a part of the display.
Many people from all over the world visited the
museum every day and admired the beautifully
crafted statue.
One night, the marble tiles started talking to the
marble statue.
Marble Tiles: Hey statue, don¡¯t you think that it
is just not fair that everybody from all over the
world will come all the way here to admire you
while ignoring and stepping on me.
Marble Statue: My dear brother, marble tile,
Don¡¯t you remember that we are actually from
the same cave.
Marble Tile: Yes! I do, that is why i feel that it is
even more unfair.
Both of us were born from the same cave and
yet the world treats us so differently now. This is
so unfair!
Marble Statue: Yes you are right my brother.
But, do you still remember the day when the
sculptor tried to work on you but you resisted
his tools.
Marble Tiles: Yes, I despise that guy. How could
he use those nasty tools on me.
Marble Statue: Well, Since you resisted his tools
he couldn¡¯t work on you.
When he decided to give up on you, he started
working on me instead.
I knew at once that i would be something differ-
ent and unique after his efforts, so I bore all of
the painful tools he used on me and allowed him
craft me as he wanted!
Marble Tiles: But those tools were so painful.
Marble Statue: My brother, there is a price for
everything in life.
Since, you decided to resist and gave up half
way, you can¡¯t blame anybody who steps on you
now.
The marble tiles silently listened to his brother¡¯s
words, and started to reflect on it.
The Reading Room 2020 August/September
Pg 5 - The Sunshine Express
Treasures From The Inbox
If you get email, you
get stuff. Sometimes
it is spam, sometimes
it is a true gem.
Here is one of those
gems worth sharing:
The Bird Catcher and the Cricket
One day, a Bird Catcher went to the forest.
He wanted to catch a very special kind of bird.
So, he looked everywhere to find a wonderful
bird.
Suddenly, he heard a strange sound.
It was like loud music, quite different from any
bird song.
The Bird Catcher listened for a while and
thought, ¡°Oh! This creature has such a strong
voice!
I am certain it must be quite a large bird that
I have never seen before!¡¯
The Bird Catcher planned to catch this loud-
voiced bird.
He quietly crept towards the sound. The song
became louder and stronger.
The Bird Catcher tossed his net out to grab the
unseen creature.
However, he was shocked!
Instead of catching a big bird with a loud voice,
he saw a tiny little Cricket in his net.
Now the Bird Catcher realised his mistake.
He had heard the loud song of the Cricket and
thought that a very big bird would be singing
such a loud song!
He decided that he would never be fooled like
that again.
Moral: ¡°We must not base our opinions on what
we hear alone.¡±
The Lion and the Frog
The Lion was the King of the forest.
He had a powerful voice and he roared to please
himself and scare others.
All of the animals were scared of him.
He also knew every corner of the forest and ev-
ery animal and every sound in it.
Now, there was a pond in the middle of the for-
est.
The Lion would drink water and sleep there for
some time, every day.
One day, the Lion finished drinking water and lay
down by the pond.
As his eyes were closing, he heard a new sound.
It was a hollow, croaky sound.
He opened his eyes, but he didn¡¯t see anyone!
Then, he heard it a second, and a third time.
By now, the Lion was becoming scared and
thought in fear, ¡°What if it were a ghost?¡±
After some time, a frog crawled out of the pond
and croaked.
The Lion saw it and realized right then that he
had been scared out of his wits by so small a
creature!
Aesop¡¯s Fables
to hold them.
As they grow up, they are conditioned to be-
lieve that they cannot break away.
They believe that the rope can still hold them,
so they never try to break free.¡±
The man was amazed.
These animals could at any time break free
from their bonds, but because they believed
that they couldn¡¯t, they were stuck right where
they were.
America Strong
¡°The greatest weapon against
stress is our ability to choose one
thought over another.¡±
- William James
¡°As a man was passing by the elephants, he
suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that
these huge creatures were being held by only a
small rope tied to their front leg.
No chains, no cages.
It was obvious that the elephants could, at any-
time, break away from their bonds, but for some
reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked him why
these animals just stood there and made no at-
tempt to get away.
¡°Well,¡± the trainer said, ¡°when they are very
young and much smaller, we use the same size
rope to tie them and, at that age, it¡¯s enough
Mental Prisons