One day, two goats try to cross a weak and narrow bridge across the river. The goats are at either end of the bridge, but neither is ready to make way for the other. They come to the centre of the bridge and begin fighting about who should cross first. As they fight mindlessly, the bridge gives in, taking both the goats down into the river with it.
Moral: It is better to yield than to come to misfortune through stubbornness.
The Donkeys and The Little Dogs (Siti Afna)
A man had a little dog, and he was very fond of it. He would pat its head, and take it on his knee, and talk to it. Then he would give it little bits of food from his own plate.
A donkey looked in at the window and saw the man and the dog."Why does he not make a pet of me?" said the donkey.
"It is not fair. I work hard, and the dog only wags its tail, and barks, and jumps on its master's knee. It is not fair."
Then the donkey said to himself, "If I do what the dog does, he may make a pet of me."
So the donkey ran into the room. It brayed as loudly as it could. It wagged its tail so hard that it knocked over a jar on the table. Then it tried to jump on to its master's knee.
The master thought the donkey was mad, and he shouted, "Help! Help!" Men came running in with sticks, and they beat the donkey till it ran out of the house, and they drove it back to the field.
"I only did what the dog does," said the donkey," and yet they make a pet of the dog, and they beat me with sticks. It is not fair."
MORAL : It is always better to mind our own business.
POTATOES EGG AND COFFEE BEANS (Aulia A)
Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.
Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.
Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“Look closer”, he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about leaning, adopting and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.
The Legend Of A Crying Stone (Gratia)
Once upon time, there was a poor old widow living in remote village. She lived with her daughter. Her Name is Darmi, Darmi was very beautiful girl but very lazy, she always spent most of her times on the mirror. She never wanted to help her mother working at the field.
The Mother : “ Girl, will you help me at the field, now?”
Darmi : “ No, I won’t! I don’t want to go there. I’m afraid my skin turns dark. Mom,
everyone knows that you are an old woman while I am a pretty young girl. So,
people will get attracted to me and not you. That is why I prefer staying at
home because I am waiting for a rich boy to get married with me ”.
After her mother from the field she accompany her daughter to the market. Her mother brought a basket full of goods, while her daughter before her. Darmi wore a beautiful dress while her mother wore a bad clothes. It was very contrast. Darmi was shy because her mother wanted to follow her went to the town, so she kept the distance between her mother. One villagers asked her.
The Villagers: “ Little girl is that your mother ? “
Darmi : “ No she is not my mother, but my slave. Slave look at me, it is very heavy,
bring my new dress. “
The Mother : “ I’m tired dear. ”
Darmi : “ I don’t care. I’m tired too.”
The mother couldn’t stand hearing her daughter’s answer after asked by a lot of people. Her daughter always said that the woman behind her was a servant or slave. At last, the mother prayed to God to ask punishment for her impolite daughter.
The Mother : “ My God, please. I beg you to punish my daughter, please. Help me, please. I
couldn’t stand looking at her bad behavior. Please, help me. My God, help me,
please. My God, punish her “.
The God heard the poor old woman’s prayer. Suddenly, there was thunderstorm and the light struck. Surprisingly, the body of her daughter turned in to a stone little by little. She tried to escape from the God’s punishment, but she couldn’t.
Darmi : “ My God forgive me, please. I know I have made a big mistake. I don’t obey you.
Please help me mother. I want to be a good child “.
It was too late. The evil body turned into stone slowly, but see still could cry. He tears dropped from eyes. People called the stone as a crying stone since then.
Moral value : From the story we can take lessons. We must respect our parent, especially our mother. Don’t be rebellious child. We must make our parent happy and proud with us.
