Narative Text The Purse of Gold

Narative Text The Purse of Gold
A beggar found a leather purse that someone had dropped in a market place. Opening it, he discovered that it contained 100 pieces of gold. Then he heard a merchant shouted, "A reward! A reaward to the one who find my leather purse!"

Being an honest man, the beggar came forward and handed the purse to the merchant saying, "Here is your purse. Will you keep your word to give a reward now?"\

"Reward?" scoffed the merchant greedily counting the amount of gold. "The purse I dropped had 200 pieces of gold in it. You've already stolen more than the reward I'll give to you.! Go away or I'll tell you to the police."

"I'm an honest man," said the beggar defiantly. "Let's take this matter to the court!" In the court, the judge patiently listened to both sides of the story and said, "I believe you both. Justice is possible! Merchant, you stated that the purse you lost contained 200 pieces of gold. Well, that's a considerable cost. But the purse the beggar found had only 100 pieces of gold. Therefore, it couldn't be the one you lost."

And, with that, the judge gave the purse and all the golds to the beggar.

Narative Text A Legend of Candy Cane

Narative Text A Legend of Candy Cane

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the church, and firmness of the promises of God.

The candy maker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It also represents the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used the tree small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Jesus on the Cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life, if only we put our faith and trust in Him. Unfortunately, the candy became known as a Candy Cane - a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who "have eyes to see and ears to hear".

Narative Text The Lion and The Mouse

Narative Text The Lion and The Mouse - Once, as a lion lay sleeping in his den, a naughty little mouse ran up his tail, and onto his back and up his mane and danced and jumped on his head, so that the lion woke up.

lion angry and mouseThe lion grabbed the mouse and, holding him in his large claws, roared in anger. 'How dare you wake me up! Don't you know that I am King of the Beasts? Anyone who disturbs my rest deserves to die! I shall kill you and eat you!'

The terrified mouse, shaking and trembling, begged the lion to let him go. 'Please don't eat me Your Majesty! I did not mean to wake you, it was a mistake. I was only playing. Please let me go - and I promise I will be your friend forever. Who knows but one day I could save your life?'

The lion looked at the tiny mouse and laughed. 'You save my life? What an absurd idea!' he said scornfully. 'But you have made me laugh, and put me into a good mood again, so I shall let you go.' And the lion opened his claws and let the mouse go free.

'Oh thank you, your majesty,' squeaked the mouse, and scurried away as fast as he could.

A few days later the lion was caught in a hunter's snare. Struggle as he might, he couldn't break free and became even more entangled in the net of ropes. He let out a roar of anger that shook the forest. Every animal heard it, including the tiny mouse.

Narative Text The Fox and The Cat

Narative Text The Fox and The Cat - One day a cat and a fox were having a conversation. The fox, who was a conceited creature, boasted how clever she was. 'Why, I know at least a hundred tricks to get away from our mutual enemies, the dogs,' she said.

'I know only one trick to get away from dogs,' said the cat. 'You should teach me some of yours!'

'Well, maybe some day, when I have the time, I may teach you a few of the simpler ones,' replied the fox airily.

Just then they heard the barking of a pack of dogs in the distance. The barking grew louder and louder - the dogs were coming in their direction! At once the cat ran to the nearest tree and climbed into its branches, well out of reach of any dog. 'This is the trick I told you about, the only one I know,' she called down to the fox. 'Which one of your hundred tricks are you going to use?'

The fox sat silently under the tree, wondering which trick she should use. Before she could make up her mind, the dogs arrived. They fell upon the fox and tore her to pieces.

A single plan that works is better than a hundred doubtful plans.

Narative Text The Wolf and the Dog

Narative Text The Wolf and the Dog  - Once there was a wolf who was nearly dead with hunger. He was very thin, so that the outline of his bones could be seen clearly beneath his thinning coat of hair. With hardly enough energy to walk, the wolf had little hope of finding food. As he lay beneath a large tree, a dog out for a walk noticed him. Seeing how thin and hungry-looking the wolf was, the dog felt sorry for him and said, "You are in terrible shape! You look as if you haven't eaten for many days."

"You're right," said the wolf. "I haven't eaten because you and your friends are doing such a good job of guarding the sheep. Now I am so weak that I have little hope of finding food. I think I will surely die."

Then why not join us? Asked the dog. "I work regularly and I eat regularly. You could do the same. I will arrange it. You can help me and the other dogs guard the sheep. In that way, we won't have to worry about your stealing the sheep any more and you won't have to worry about going hungry any more. It's a good deal for both of us."

The wolf thought it over for a few minutes and then decided that the dog was right. So they went off together toward the ranch house where the dog lived. But, as they were walking, the wolf noticed that the hair on a certain part of the dog's neck was very thin. He was curious about this, for the dog had such a beautiful coat every where else. Finally, he asked the dog about it.

"Oh, don't worry about that," said the dog. "It's the place where the collar rubs on my neck when my master chains me up at night."

"Chained up!" cried the wolf, "Do you mean that you are chained up at night? If I come to live with you, will I be chained up at night too?"

That's right," answered the dog. "But, You'll get used to it soon enough. I hardly think about it anymore."

"But, if I am chained up, then I won't be able to walk when I want to take a walk or to run where I want to run," the wolf said. "If I come to live with you, I won't be free anymore." After saying this, the wolf turned and ran away.

"The dog called after the wolf, saying, "Wait! Come back! I may not be able to do everything I want to do, but I'm healthy, well-fed, and I have a warm place to sleep. You are too worried about keeping alive to enjoy life. I'm more free than you are."

Narative Text The Fox and the Crow

Narative Text The Fox and the Crow - A crow, perched in a tree with a piece of cheese in his beak, attracted the eye and nose of a fox. "If you can sing as prettily as you sit," said the fox, "then you are the prettiest singer within my scent and sight." The fox had read somewhere, and somewhere, and somewhere else, that praising the voice of a crow with a cheese in his beak would make him drop the cheese and sing. But this is not what happened to this particular crow in this particular case.

"They say you are sly and they say you are crazy," said the crow, having carefully removed the cheese from his beak with the claws of one foot, "but you must be nearsighted as well. Warblers wear gay hats and colored jackets and bright vest, and they are a dollar a hundred. I wear black and I am unique.

"I am sure you are," said the fox, who was neither crazy nor nearsighted, but sly. "I recognize you, now that I look more closely, as the most famed and talented of all birds, and I fain would hear you tell about yourself, but I am hungry and must go."

"Tarry awhile," said the crow quickly, "and share my lunch with me." Whereupon he tossed the cunning fox the lion's share of the cheese, and began to tell about himself. "A ship that sails without a crow's nest sails to doom," he said. "Bars may come and bars may go, but crow bars last forever. I am the pioneer of flight, I am the map maker. Last, but never least, my flight is known to scientists and engineers, geometricians, and scholar, as the shortest distance between two points. Any two points," he concluded arrogantly.

"Oh, every two points, I am sure," said the fox. "And thank you for the lion's share of what I know you could not spare." And with this he trotted away into the woods, his appetite appeased, leaving the hungry crow perched forlornly in the tree.

Narative Text The Tiger Who Would Be King

Narative Text The Tiger Who Would Be King

One morning the tiger woke up in the jungle and told his mate that he was king of beasts.

"Leo, the lion, is king of beasts," she said.

"We need a change," said the tiger. "The creatures are crying for a change."

The tigress listened but she could hear no crying, except that of her cubs.

"I'll be king of beasts by the time the moon rises," said the tiger. "It will be a yellow moon with black stripes, in my honour."

"Oh sure," said the tigress as she went to look after her young, one of whom, a male, very like his father, had got an imaginary thorn in his paw.

The tiger prowled through the jungle till he came to the lion's den. "Come out," he roared," and greet the king of beasts! The king is dead, long live the king!"

Inside the den, the lioness woke her mate. "The king is here to see you," she said.

"What king?" he inquired, sleepily.

"The king of beasts," she said.

"I am the king of beasts," roared Leo and he charged out of the den to defend his crown against the pretender.

It was a terrible fight and it lasted until the setting of the sun. All the animals of the jungle joined in, some taking the side of the tiger and others the side of the lion. Every creature from the aardvark to the zebra took part in the struggle to overthrow the lion or to repulse the tiger, and some did not knot know which they were fighting for, and some fought for both, and some fought whoever was nearest and some fought for the sake of fighting.

"What are we fighting for?" someone asked the aardvark.

"The old order," said the aardvark.

"What are we dying for?" someone asked the zebra.

"The new order," said the zebra.

When the moon rose, fevered and gibbous, it shone upon a jungle in which nothing stirred except a macaw and a cockatoo, screaming in horror. All the beasts were dead except the tiger, and his days were numbered and his time was ticking away. He was monarch of all he surveyed, but it didn't seem to mean anything.

Narrative Text The Legend of Rawa Pening

Narrative Text The Legend of Rawa Pening - Once upon a time, there was a little poor boy came into a little village. He was very hungry and weak. He knocked at every door and asked for some food, but nobody cared about him. Nobody wanted to help the little boy.

Finally, a generous woman helped him. She gave him shelter and a meal. When the boy wanted to leave, this old woman gave him a “lesung”, a big wooden mortar for pounding rice. She reminded him, “please remember, if there is a flood you must save yourself. Use this “lesung” as a boat”. The “lesung” was happy and thanked the old woman.The little boy continued his journey. While he was passing through the village, he saw many people gathering on the field. The boy came closer and saw a stick stuck in the ground. People challenged each other to pull out that stick. Everybody tried, but nobody succeeded. “Can I try?” asked the little boy. The crowd laughed mockingly. The boy wanted to try his luck so he stepped forward and pulled out the stick. He could do it very easily. Everybody was dumbfounded.

Suddenly, from the hole left by stick, water spouted out. It did not stop until it flooded the village. And no one was saved from the water except the little boy and the generous old woman who gave him shelter and meal. As she told him, he used the “lesung” as a boat and picked up the old woman. The whole village became a huge lake. It is now known as Rawa Pening Lake in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia.