Well, in my childhood my mother used to tell me folktales she had heard from her parents. Some of these tales were so gripping, they got etched onto my memory forever. I thought it to be a good idea to share some of them with the world. I believe every folktale is an outcome of centuries of wisdom. They tend to highlight some higher moral aspect of life.
Here is one of my favorite folktales:
Long long ago in a small village there lived a young boy with his elderly mother. He wouldn't do any job, so with the passage of time, it became really hard for the family to make both ends meet. One day the youth went to his mother and said, ' Mother, I am going out for a job to earn some living. Give me your blessings and a piece of advice.'
His mother blessed him and said, ' Whatever you get as reward for your hard work, just keep it on your palm and bring it home.'
The young lad toiled and labored the whole day and in the evening got a penny as a reward. Keeping his mother's advice in his mind, he kept that penny onto his palm, and started walking back home. On the way, he jumped over a narrow stream of dirty water and dropped the penny into it.
When he reached home, he told everything to his mother, and asked for advice for the next day. Thinking he would get a penny as a reward again, his mother advised him to put anything he would earn into his pocket.
The next day, the young boy worked hard in the fields of a farmer, and got a lump of butter as a reward for his labor. Sticking to his mother's advice, he stuck the lump into the front pocket of his shirt, and hurried back home. By the time he reached home, the whole lump of butter had melted and dirtied his clothes.
The next morning his mother advised him to hold anything he'd get in his hands securely to get it home. He worked hard the whole day, and by dusk got a cat as a reward for his work. Insisting to follow his mother's advice, he held the cat in his hands and stared walking back home. On the way the cat got wild and angry. It scratched the poor boy's hands and scurried back to his master's home.
Seeing his son in such a bloody condition and anticipating he might get another cat, the mother advised him to get a rope along, and tie anything he'd get the next day and drag it back to home.
The next day the farmer, for whom the simple boy worked had his bull slaughtered. Generously he gave the boy a big piece of beef. Not willing to relent, the boy tied the piece of beef with a sturdy string and dragged it all the way back home, making it unworthy of eating.
The next morning his mother asked him to carry anything he earns on his shoulder. The poor mother thought he would get a piece of beef again.
After the whole day labor, the farmer rewarded the boy with a healthy spare donkey. Ignoring the instructions of everybody around and yet keeping faith in his mother's advice, he knelt down and managed to hold the beast on his shoulders. Slowly and steadily, he trudged through the streets of the town carrying the flabbergasted animal on his shoulders.
The King of the country had announced that whoever made his pretty princess smile or laugh, he would marry the princess off to him.
By sheer coincidence, the princess was just sitting sadly by her window. When she had a glimpse of the this hilarious sight of the young boy carrying a donkey on his shoulders, she burst into laughter. The King overwhelmed by the joy of his daughter's happiness, sent his men running after the boy.
In a few minutes the boy was in the royal palace being groomed and readied to be the Prince Charming for the princess. Very soon he called his mother to the palace, and like in every fairy tale, they all lived happily ever after.
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