Religious Folktales
Tales of piety and devotion from around the world
Compiled & Edited by
Praveen Dabré
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY:
Praveen Dabré on Smashwords
Religious Folktales
Copyright © 2010 by Praveen Dabré
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a compilation of traditional folklore from across the world. By definition these are in the public domain and free of copyright. However, the author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of those tales that are so copyrighted and have inadvertently been included in this collection.
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Religious Folktales
Tales of piety and devotion from around the world
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The Stolen Axe
A Taoist Tale by Lieh Tzu
A WOODCUTTER went out one morning to cut some firewood and discovered that his favourite axe was missing. He couldn’t find it anywhere. Then he noticed his neighbour’s son standing near the woodshed.
The woodcutter thought, “Aha! That boy must have stolen my axe. I see how he lurks about the shed, shifting uneasily from foot to foot, greedy hands stuffed in his pockets, a guilty look on his face. I can’t prove it, but he must have stolen my axe.”
A few days later the woodcutter was surprised and happy to come upon the axe under a pile of firewood. “I remember now,” he said, “Just where I’d left it!”
The next time he saw his neighbour’s son, the woodcutter looked intently at the boy, scrutinizing him from head to toe. How odd, he thought, somehow this boy has lost his guilty look…
– China
The Strawberry
A Zen Tale
THERE WAS once a man who was being chased by a ferocious tiger across a field. At the edge of the field there was a cliff. In order to escape the jaws of the tiger, the man caught hold of a vine and swung himself over the edge of the cliff.
Dangling down, he saw, to his dismay, there were more tigers on the ground below him! And, furthermore, two little mice were gnawing on the vine to which he clung. He knew that at any moment he would fall to certain death.
That’s when he noticed a wild strawberry growing on the cliff wall. Clutching the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other and put it in his mouth.
He never before realized how sweet a strawberry could taste.
– Japan
The Virgin Mary and the Goats
AS THE Virgin Mary was fleeing with the Holy Child, she sought a safe place to lie down and sleep one night. Coming to a sheepfold, she hid among the ewes that were penned in there.
The ewes let her take shelter in their midst without betraying her presence, making no restless movements nor uttering a sound. “May God protect you as you have protected me,” said Our Lady when she resumed her journey the next morning.
The following night she crept among a herd of goats, who at once began to bleat. “May God forevermore expose your shame as you exposed me this night,” said the Virgin.
Straightaway the goats’ tails, which till then had hung down like those of other animals, lifted and curled upwards. And since that day all goats walk with their shameful parts uncovered for all to see.
– Palestine
The Virgin Mary and the Ploughmen
WHEN THE Virgin Mary, peace be on her, was on the flight to Egypt with her son in her arms, she passed by some ploughmen making furrows in their field. She said to them, “Though today you are only sowing, before the sun rises tomorrow morning your field will be ready to harvest. But remember, if anyone comes this way and asks about me, say, ‘She was here just as we were getting ready to plant these chick-peas.’”
Indeed, when the Beni Israel, who were after the Virgin, came to the place on the very next day, these same ploughmen were busy harvesting chickpeas. The Beni Israel asked, “Has a woman carrying a child passed your way recently?” The plowmen replied, “By God, such a one did go by, but that was when we were digging the furrows to sow this crop.”
“Oho,” said her pursuers, “that must have been some time ago. How will we catch up with her now?”
– Palestine
Speaking the Truth
A KING once ordered that whoever told a lie should pay a fine of five dinars. The crier went through the city announcing the command, and people began to avoid each other, fearing that they might speak an untruth. Meanwhile the king and his wazir disguised themselves and wandered about the marketplace to see the effects of the decree.
They paused in front of the store of a rich merchant. The merchant invited them in and served them coffee, and they passed the time pleasantly in conversation. “How old are you?” they asked. “Twenty,” said the merchant. “What are you worth?” “Seventy thousand.” “How many children do you have?” “One, by the grace of God.”
When the king and the wazir returned to the palace, they checked the records and sent for the merchant. "We have found that you have told three lies. That will cost you five dinars.”
“First prove your case against me,” said the merchant. “You are an old man—sixty-five years old, according to the books—and yet you claim you are only twenty!” “The years I enjoyed and in which I found happiness are but twenty—of the rest I know nothing.”
“Then what about your vast wealth, so large that it cannot be counted or calculated, while you admit to seventy thousand only.” “With those seventy thousand I built a mosque. That is my fortune—the money I dedicated to God and man.”
“Well, do you deny that you have six sons?” they asked, and named them one by one. “No, but five are godless drunkards and adulterers. Only one, may God look kindly on him, is upright and good.”
“You have spoken well, O truthful one,” the king admitted. “No time is worth remembering but that which was passed in bliss; no wealth worth counting but that spent for the cause of God and man; and no son worth mentioning unless he is pious and good.”
– Syria
The Trustees
ONCE THERE was a man and his wife, Khaim and Shifre, who had two children. One Saturday morning while Khaim was off in the synagogue, the children were taken suddenly ill and died.
When Khaim came home, he sat down to eat and said to Shifre, “Where can the children be?”
“They’re playing with other children in the neighbour’s courtyard,” Shifre replied.
After Khaim finished his cholent, his Sabbath bean and barley stew, he went back to the synagogue and stayed for the late-evening prayers. When he returned, he sat down to eat but the food somehow did not agree with him. So he asked Shifre again, “Have the children been home since this morning?”
“Yes, they were only just here. They ate and then went back out to play.”
While Khaim ate, Shifre asked his opinion about a matter of religious law. “If someone leaves something in the care of someone else and then later comes to reclaim it, is the person to whom the thing has been entrusted required to give it back?”
Khaim said, “What a question! Of course he must give it back. At once, without another word.”
“In that case,” Shifre said, “come with me into the other room. I want to show you something.”
When Khaim followed her and saw that the children were dead, he began to tear his hair.
“Hush,” Shifre said. “You said yourself, if one entrusts something to another person and then comes and asks for it again, it must be given back. God entrusted the children to us and now He has taken them back again.”
– Poland
Lot’s Penance
WHEN LOT sinned, he asked his uncle Abraham, “What must I do so that my transgressions may be forgiven me?” Abraham gave him a staff and said, “Plant this in the ground and water it with water from the River Jordan. But as you fetch water, should you meet anyone who asks you to quench his thirst, give him freely of what you carry and throwaway what is left. Then return to the river for fresh water to give your plant. When it blossoms and bears leaves, you will know that God has forgiven you.”
Now, this was no ordinary stick. One of the angels who visited Abraham and ate in his tent had carried it. Then Sarah found it and tossed it on the fire, but as it began to burn it had filled the air with such perfume that she had plucked it out of the flames and hidden it away. Now Abraham gave it to Lot.
Lot did as he was told and planted it, then took a waterskin down to the River Jordan. But the devil, knowing that Lot sought forgiveness for his sins, devised a way to hinder him. Disguising himself as a traveller, he waited by the side of the road and begged for a drink. Lot was filled with pity and poured him as much water as he needed.
Then he returned to the Jordan for more. Again the devil waylaid him and asked for water. Lot gave him what he had and retraced his steps again. So the devil continued until Lot was weary and his legs weak from walking.
God now took pity on him and blinded the devil to prevent him from finding Lot. At last Lot was able to water the staff, and straightway it burst into leaf and blossomed. And Lot felt easy in his heart, for he knew that God had shown him mercy.
– Palestine
The Cat Who Went to Mecca
A LONG time ago the king of the cats went on the pilgrimage to Mecca. When he returned, the king of the mice felt obliged to pay him the traditional visit of congratulations on his safe return as a Hajji, or pilgrim. He said to his subjects the mice, “Etiquette demands that we go to his house and welcome him back formally.”
The mice were not convinced. “The cat is our enemy; how can we go near him in safety?” The king explained, “Now that he has been to Mecca and become a Hajji, he is no longer free to do what was permitted before. Nowadays he remains at prayer from dawn till sunset, and the prayer beads never leave his hands.” The mice were not persuaded. “You call on him and see,” they said. “We shall wait here for you.”