Folk Tales on Pitara Kids Network

The Man who Saved the Moon

Tue, 22 Aug 2000 15:00:01 +0000

A kind-hearted man, looking down into a well, saw the reflection of the moon in the water.

“Oh! My God! The moon has fallen into the well,” he muttered mournfully and hurried to fetch a hook tied to the end of a long rope.

Quickly, he let the hook fall deep into the well, holding fast to the rope.

The hook hit the water and, reaching the bottom of the well, caught fast to a stone.

The Singing Donkey

Fri, 08 May 1998 22:46:12 +0000

Long ago there was a small little town called Devpur. In this town lived a washerman and his old, lean donkey called Bhola. Bhola helped the washerman with his work. Every morning Bhola carried a pile of dirty clothes to the ghats and got back washed clothes in the evening. At nights Bhola was allowed to roam around and do whatever he wanted.

One night during his usual nightly stroll he met a fox named Bijli. Bhola and Bijli soon became friends. They would meet regularly at nights and jointly look for something to eat.

And Elephants did Fly

Wed, 05 Apr 2000 19:52:04 +0000

A Saora folk tale from Orissa retold from ‘When the World was Young’, by Verrier Elwin. The book is a fascinating collection of folktales from the tribal peoples of India. Elwin was a pioneering anthropologist; he spent his entire life getting to know the ways of life of the tribal peoples.

There was a time when elephants could fly. The world was young then, and they had wings — four big wings. In fact they were God’s greatest vehicle; he used to ride one of them. He was busy creating the world. But once humans had started living on earth, God’s work was over. The usefulness of the elephants decreased.

Shebu and Moonmoon, the Long Haired Goat

Wed, 19 Apr 2000 07:37:20 +0000

Shebu and Moonmoon, the Long Haired Goat [Illustrations by Kusum Chamoli]

“Bajai,” as we called grandmother, was the best storyteller in the whole world, says Madhu Gurung. She lived in the foothills of Mussoorie in a tiny village called Johri Gaun. And she always started her stories with a saying, “To the listener a garland of gold, to the storyteller a garland of all forest flowers and this tale that I tell you today will be heard in heaven.” Here Madhu Gurung presents one of the many stories that she heard from Bajai in her childhood.

The Story-tellers

Sun, 26 May 2002 14:56:45 +0000

What could be a better way to get to know a country than through its folk-tales and stories? And if you love collecting stories anyway, as Madhu Gurung does, nothing could be more wonderful. Here, Madhu, presently based in Myanmar’s capital, Yangon, talks about the Myanmarese duo of mother and daughter who have enlivened her days by weaving tales even as they help her with her domestic chores. Madhu shares the magic of those story-telling sessions in the following anecdote: