ESL Blogs

My dear friends! I have promised to start the discussion of your fables and parables, so here I am with all your great stories. You know what to do as it is not the first time we ask you to criticize your stories and choose the best (the “like” list is more preferable as usual). I like all the stories. They are so different, but all are so smart. So, let’s see whose story is the best in your opinion.

No 1.

The King and Salt

There was a king who had three daughters. When they grow up, he wanted to decide which one should be his successor to the throne. So he wanted to test their love. He had only one single question and he asked his daughters to answer very honestly.
His question was: "How much do you love me?"
The first one, the eldest, answered: "Oh my dad, my love is worth more than all __ your gold and diamonds in your treasury." He smiled and was happy.
The second one said: "Oh, my father, I love you more than the flowers in your garden and more than all your horses in your stables." The king smiled and caressed her cheeks tenderly.
The third and the youngest daughter said: "My dearest dad, I love you like salt." 
The king got very angry and didn't understand why his daughter said so. He banished her from the castle and he __commanded to exterminate every single corn of salt in his kingdom. The next day the king wanted to enjoy breakfast but all the dishes were tasteless. The bread was bland, the ham had no taste and__ it was the same when he had lunch or dinner. The days were passing and everyone was complaining of __ missing salt. Nobody in the kingdom enjoyed eating. And much more .. people became ill because salt is more than only taste. Salt contains minerals which people need for __ living. Without salt every life will die. The king realized that he had a very smart daughter. He asked her to come back and to forgive him. He was sure she would be the perfect queen of his kingdom after his death.

No 2.

The Famer and the Pumpkin

There lived one farmer who kept on questioning what the logical reason for plants’ and animals’ existence was. Ones in the afternoon while he was resting he was staring at his pumpkin that was so big but__ its stems and leaves didn’t match __ its strong character as they were weak. “Why does a strong vegetable like you have such weak stems and leaves, why were you created like that? Why don’t you have a bigger tree to fit your character?” –he murmured. Afterwards he looked at his black palm tree. The tree was big giving enough shade for him to ponder gazing at its top, noticing its fruits and saying with a wry smile, “…and you, palm tree, why do you have such a big trunk? __Look at your fruits, though there are so many of them, they are small and soft. What irony!…” he said in sleepy tone.. All of a sudden, the gusty wind approached and the black palm tree started shaking. As a result,__ some tiny stems broke and a bunch of fruits fell down right on the farmer’s head!

The farmer, almost sleeping, got so wonder-struck and said with a very humble voice: “Thank you, Lord, for not making a pumpkin a big tree! __I could have been dead by now…” he said in his prayer to God.

The Moral__: Don’t question the wisdom of your Creator. If you can’t understand now, it doesn’t mean it is meaningless. It means you can’t fathom His unfathomable power.

No 3.

Whom to Blame?

Once upon a time there was a land in the Middle East and there lived happy animals_ in peace. God had __endowed them with abundant lands and for years and for ages, the bright sun shone on them__. They had never needed anything from any foreign animals. But one day some greedy arrogant animals like wolves and foxes got an eye on that land. Every day more of them appeared messing up the land with their crap__.
In the end, most of happy animals began to disappear and to die due to __discomfort and cruelty.

On the other hand, some of the animals from that land immigrated to other lands which didn't belong to them. They faced myriads of problems, some of them died, some were humiliated, some were insulted but none of them paid attention to the reasons for such happy animals’ having left their land. None paid attention to those who occupied their land. None talked about wolves and foxes. All they did was to blame and to accuse the results.

No 4.

The Crow and the Nest

There lived a crow in a swampy forest. He was very generous and good looking. One day like others he found his soulmate. They were very happy with each other. After a year of their getting married, the lady crow met__ a duck who seemed to be very outspoken and proud! She asked the lady crow: ‘What about your male? Does he like to find food for you like my male?’ Lady crow said: ‘Yes, why not?’ Then, the duck asked, ‘Has he ever flown__ a long distance to get you something different?’ It took Lady crow long time to reply. Lady duck sensed crow’s uncertainty and, proceeding in her way, at last she defiantly said that her male was going to build a new dwelling very soon. Lady crow felt some stomach ache. Really, it was something to envy!

After reaching home in the evening, the male crow found his lady a bit different. When he greeted her, she did not even smile back. “What the hell is wrong with you! Why do you look so pale and dull today when I am going to surprise you?!’ ‘ Surprise, what do you mean?’, asked  lady crow  in a timid voice.

‘ Oaky, come on fly with me’, said the crow. And, they flew almost half a mile towards the nearest sandy hill. And to her surprise, lady crow found a very nice nestling which her male had made for the upcoming summer. It was up above the birch tree beside the hill and waterfront!

From that moment and onward,__ lady crow never became upset hearing about any gifts or wealth of others!

Moral is: people should be satisfied with what they have!

No 5.

The Forest Elections

It was Tuesday morning and all the animals living in the forest knew that it would be a very special day. Everybody woke up earlier and the nervousness was everywhere around. No wonder... That day the animals would vote for their president. It was a very important step for the forest and also for other forests situated behind the borders. As every ant, bear or bird knew there were two candidates: Mr. Snake and Mrs. Fox. Mr. Snake was able to use his every lie against Mrs. Fox without hesitation and couldn’t stand any animals, that had moved to the forest recently, whereas Mrs. Fox was a smart two-faced, cunning beast with martial tendencies and smile on her face one could hardly believe. Some animals were confused and felt like no matter, whom they would vote for, their forest would fall into the wrong hands. Others had their favorite candidate and believed in the better future of the forest! Who would win? In fact, it was not important at all, who would reign in the forest... Mr. Snake or Mrs. Fox...both were tricky and they also had one more thing in common: they wouldn’t care about other animals or the forest after being _elected, they would just care about their own incomes and all the promises they gave to the animals, would be forgotten...as __even a smart owl forgot that such a situation repeated once in four years with the same result...

Moral: It doesn't matter, which "pig" is at the "trough"!

No 6.

The pig and the Bees

Flowers blossomed in Henry’s farm and the bees swarmed enjoying the view and gathering nectar. The pig who lived in the farm said: ‘You all live so far from the farm, yet, you come here every year as soon as the flowers start blossoming. How do you all find it out? The Bees said: 'By the sweet smell of the flowers’. The Pig said ‘I have been living in this farm for many years and yet, I do not feel the smell. What is it like? The Bees answered: “ We can tell you about the smell, but we cannot provide you with the nose that can feel it. The Pig asked: ”Can you teach me to smell the blossom and enjoy the honey?”  “That’s impossible as we have already told you, __ the sense of fair and sweet ___must be in us when we begin to exist’, replied the bees.

No 7.

The Lion and the Label

One night, in some Jungle, its king, the Lion, was decided to be humbled. While he was sleeping, somebody glued a label reading "An Ass (a donkey)" on his forehead. When the Lion woke up and started telling the Jungle he was awoke, no one paid attention to his roaring. He was surprised and started examining his territory. But all the animals he met on his way pointed a finger to him saying: "Look, here is an ass walking around pretending to be our Lion" and no one showed him usual respect or obedience. The Lion started going nuts and went to the court.

He said: "I am a Lion! Don’t you see it?!"

But the judge looked at him and replied: "Sir! You may be a Lion, who knows? But the fact you are an ass is just written on your forehead!"

The moral of the fable is: some patterns can be more powerful than common sense.