AROUND THE GLOBE TALES

Africa

• Friends
• The Root of the Matter
• The Three Runners
• Uncle Spider
• Royal Servant
• The Tailless Dassie

Bhutan

• Family Misfortunes

Birbal story

• Birbal Catches A Thief

China

• Gasping Grasper
• The Short-sighted Brothers
• Moment of Madness
• Secret Of Casket
• Chicken Feed
• Why Cats Chase Rats
• Struck by Lightning
• Sound Advice
• The Generous Student
• The Naming Game
• Butterfly Lovers

Europe

• Force of Habit
• The Fisherman Who Rose Too High

France

• Wish List

Indonesia

• Double Trouble

Italy

• Advice

Japan

• Learning from the Enemy
• The Witch in the Tower
• Little One Inch
• Not True
• Coloured

Korea

• The Tiger's whisker
• The Sun-Goddess of Korea

Malaysia

• Totally Useful Youth

Myanmar

• Immune to Flattery
• Stomach Problems
• Why Crows are Black

Nepal

• Top Answers
• Dreams

Persia

• Disputed Waters

Philippines

• Making Haste Slowly

Rome

• The Dissatisfied Devotee

Russia

• Passport

West Africa

• Tug of War

Friends

A mouse and a frog were friends. Every morning the frog would hop out of his pond and go to visit his friend who lived in a hole in the side of a tree. He would return home at noon.
The mouse delighted in his friend's company unaware that the friend was slowly turning into an enemy. The reason? The frog felt slighted because though he visited the mouse everyday, the mouse on his part, had never made an attempt to visit him.
One day he felt he had been humiliated enough. When it was time for him to take leave of the mouse, he tied one end of a string around his own leg, tied the other end to the mouse's tail, and hopped away, dragging the hapless mouse behind him.
The frog dived deep into the pond. The mouse tried to free himself but couldn't, and soon drowned. His bloated body floated to the top.
A hawk saw the mouse floating on the pond's surface. He swooped down, and grabbing the mouse in his talons, flew to the branch of a nearby tree. The frog, of course, was hauled out of the water too. He desperately tried to free himself, but couldn't and the hawk soon put an end to his struggles.
In Africa they have a saying: 'Don't dig too deep a pit for your enemy, you may fall into it yourself'.