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The Greatest Treasure

One day, Baddy, the fox was walking down the forest trail, lost in thought.

“Where are you off to so early in the morning, Baddy?” asked Cheeku, the rabbit who was on his morning walk.

“I’m glad I ran into you, Cheeku,” said Baddy.

“Why? Were you looking for me?” asked Cheeku.

“I wasn’t exactly looking for you, Cheeku. I’m actually looking for a well,” said Baddy.

“You’re looking for a well? Why? Are you thirsty?” asked Cheeku.

“No, no, let me explain,” said Baddy. “I had a dream last night that there’s a well somewhere in the forest and it’s all dried up. I’m looking for that well.”

Cheeku gave Baddy a confused look. Baddy further explained, “In my dream, the dried-up well is filled with treasures. I need to find that well and dig out all the treasure. With it, I’ll become the richest animal in the forest.”

Things made sense to Cheeku now and he said, “Baddy, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think there’s any treasure or even a dried-up well in Champakvan. It was just a dream. So instead of running around the forest looking for some treasure, why don’t you join me? We’ll run together. It’ll be good for your health.”

Baddy said he’d rather continue his search for the well and walked away, and Cheeku went back to his morning walk.

Baddy spent some time wandering around Champakvan, until he saw a well. Baddy ran to the well and peered inside. It seemed to be dry.

“I’ve found it! I’m rich! I’m rich!” he shouted and danced. “Now I’ll climb into the well and search for that treasure!” he said and peered inside once again.

The well was deep, but its walls had rocks jutting out in different places. “I can use these rocks as footholds and climb down,” Baddy said to himself and began to climb down.

The well was deeper than he thought and it became dark very fast. Baddy almost made out of the well but one of the steps gave away and he fell into the well.

At the bottom, there were rocks and stones and Baddy was badly bruised. But he was so keen on finding the treasure that he paid no attention to his injuries and began digging the ground. All he found were stones and rocks.

Baddy looked at the walls of the well, and just then he saw a big black snake come out of one of the holes in the wall.

“Oh no! A snake!” he shouted and began to tremble with fear.

Fortunately for him, the snake was good-natured and meant no harm to him.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” said the snake reassuringly. “What are you doing here in this well?”

Baddy told the snake about his dream and that he was looking for the buried treasure.

“Hmm…you seem to believe in superstitions,” said the snake.

“You’re so keen on finding the treasure that you’re not bothered by how difficult or dangerous the situation might be. Well, let me spare you the effort of digging and tell you that there is no buried treasure here.”

Baddy felt dejected. He decided to head back out of the well, but he realised that he didn’t know how he was going to do that.

Baddy scratched his head, looking for a solution. Even after thinking for several minutes, Baddy had no idea of how to get out of the well. He sat down and started to cry.

The snake said, “Why don’t you shout for help. Maybe someone will hear you and help you out.”

When Baddy called for help, Meeku who was passing by heard his cries. He put his hand out and asked Baddy to grab on.

“Give me your hand and I’ll pull you out!” Meeku said.

But Baddy refused to put his hand out. Meeku didn’t know what to do. He called Jumbo.

Jumbo offered to help and said Baddy, “Here! Give me your hand and I’ll pull you out with my trunk.” But Baddy refused again.

“I think he’s gone crazy,” Meeku whispered to Jumbo. “He called for help, and when we offer it, he refuses!”

Meeku saw Cheeku going home and he called out to him. He told Cheeku everything.

Cheeku realised what was happening and told the others what to do.

Cheeku said, “Baddy has always taken. He doesn’t know how to give. Ask him to take your trunk, Jumbo and you’ll be able to pull him out easily.”

Jumbo told him, “Here you go, Baddy! Take my trunk. I’ll pull you out.”

Baddy didn’t refuse this time. After Baddy was rescued, Cheeku told him, “Baddy, Do you know what the biggest treasure is? It is friendship. We’ll always help you out, Baddy, and we know no treasure can replace our friendship.”

Baddy realised his mistake and apologised to others. He realised there is no bigger wealth than friendship. He was changed and began to help others and was not greedy anymore.

Jumbo finds new friends

Jumbo Giraffe was a cute little giraffe. He had recently shifted to Amarvan with his parents.

But Jumbo Giraffe wasn’t very happy in Amarvan, and he often wondered if he would ever be happy.

Well, the reason was that Jumbo Giraffe hadn’t made any new friends as yet, and he felt lonely since he stayed at home all day long.

One day, when Jumbo Giraffe’s parents went out of the house, he decided that he would go out and explore the forest. And so, he went for a long walk. A cool breeze was blowing, and Jumbo Giraffe looked around at the lush green trees that were growing all over. “I don’t know why Mum and Dad still think of me as a baby,” he said with a sigh. “They don’t let me go out by myself. I am so big and tall that even Khemu Uncle looks tiny in comparison,” Jumbo Giraffe muttered when he saw Khemu Rabbit who was his neighbour, gnawing on a big red carrot.

Soon, he spotted some baby tortoises. They were flying a kite together. Jumbo Giraffe really wanted to make new friends and have fun playing games with them, just like he did with his friends in the forest where he lived before. And so, he walked towards the baby tortoises.

“Hello! I’m Jumbo!” he said with a friendly smile. “I’m new to Amarvan. Can I play with you all?” The baby tortoises looked at Jumbo Giraffe and shook their heads.

“Oh no!” one of the tortoises said. “You are so big and tall! We cannot play with you!”

They then turned their backs towards Jumbo Giraffe and continued flying their kite.

Jumbo Giraffe shrugged and sighed. “Well, Mum and Dad think of me as small. And these tortoises think of me as big!” he thought to himself and quietly walked away.

He walked further into the forest, wishing that he had at least a friend or two to talk to, when something suddenly hit his leg.

“Hey!” he then heard some voices call.

“Please throw our football back to us.”

Jumbo Giraffe looked up and saw a herd of elephants calling out to him. They were playing in the forest playground, and the football obviously belonged to them.

He picked up the football and walked towards the elephants.

“Hi! Will you let me play with you? I’m new to the forest!” he said hopefully.

“No,” the elephants said firmly. “You cannot play with us. You are very small and you might get hurt if you play with us. If that happens, your parents will be very upset with us. So, we cannot allow you to join our games!” The elephants took their football from Jumbo Giraffe and went back to their game.

Jumbo Giraffe sighed. He felt very disappointed but didn’t say a word. He sat on a nearby rock and watched the elephants quietly.

“I really cannot figure out whether I am big or small,” he said to himself. “Some of the animals insist that I am too big to play with them. And there are others who refuse to let me join them saying I am too small! Sigh!”

Tears welled in Jumbo Giraffe’s eyes. He had never felt so sad or lonely ever before. He heard the sound of chattering and looked up only to see a baby monkey hanging from the branch of a nearby tree. The monkey seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly.

“This monkey is far better off than I am,” Jumbo Giraffe thought to himself. “He can amuse himself with his own antics. I can’t even hang like him. Hey! Maybe I can ask him to play with me. He might just agree.”

But before Jumbo Giraffe could say a word, the baby monkey jumped on to another tree and disappeared deep into the forest.

“Oh!” Jumbo Giraffe said, feeling quite left out once again. He decided to return home since he could not find anyone to play with. He started to walk away when he saw the elephants’ football fall into a swamp.

“Oh no!” the elephants said, sounding very disappointed. Jumbo Giraffe watched as the elephants tried their level best to take the football out of the swamp with the help of their trunks.

He realised that they couldn’t go very close to the swamp since they had heavy bodies and were likely to get stuck in the swamp. Unfortunately, the elephants’ trunks were not long enough to pull the ball out of the swamp either.

Jumbo Giraffe felt very sorry for the elephants. They had been having so much fun just a few minutes ago. They looked very disappointed now. “May I try taking the football out of the swamp?” he asked politely. The elephants looked at him hesitatingly.

One of them then said, “We would be highly obliged if you could do that. But please, do take care of yourself and don’t go very close to the swamp. We do not want you to get into any trouble.”

Jumbo Giraffe nodded and went closer to the swamp. He tried pulling the football out with his legs, but wasn’t successful. “I am unable to reach the football on my own,” he told the elephants. “Can somebody hold me from behind please? I will be more relaxed when I try to reach it then.”

One of the elephants then held Jumbo Giraffe tightly from behind as per his suggestion. Jumbo found that he could reach the football easily now. In no time, he retrieved it from the swamp and smartly kicked it towards the elephants.

“Hurray!” the elephants cheered as they picked up and hugged their football. All the elephants then thanked Jumbo for his help and invited him to play with them.

Jumbo Giraffe accepted the elephants’ invitation graciously.

He played with them till it was time him for him to go home. He then left the playground, promising that he would come back the next day, and started walking towards his house.

On the way, he saw the baby tortoises he had met earlier. They were looking at a tree and seemed very worried. “Why are you looking so worried?” Jumbo Giraffe asked the baby tortoises. “And why are you looking at that tree?”

“Our kite is stuck there,” one of the tortoises said and pointed towards a high branch of the tree. “Is that so?” Jumbo said. “Wait, I’ll get it down for you.” Jumbo was quite tall since he was a giraffe. And so, all he had to do was stand on his toes and stretch to be able to reach up to the branch of the tree. In no time, he took the kite out of the tree and gave it to the baby tortoises.

“Thanks a lot!” the baby tortoises said, feeling thrilled now that they had their kite back. “And sorry about the way we behaved earlier. We will be your friends now on. Come, fly the kite with us.”

Jumbo smiled. He was glad that the baby tortoises wanted him to be their friend and join their games. “Thank you,” he said politely. “But I will join you tomorrow. It is time for me to go home now.”

“OK,” the baby tortoises said. “But please promise us that you will come back tomorrow!”

“I promise!” Jumbo said and waved. He then walked back home, feeling quite happy. He was sure that he would be happy in Amarvan too, just like he had been in the forest where he lived before, now that he had so many friends.

Friends Of A Feather

There was a huge tree in a jungle. Many birds lived on that tree. One day, following a storm, it started raining heavily. The branches of the tree started swaying violently from side-to-side.

All the birds decided to stay within their nests. The warmth of the nests was quite comforting.

Browny, a Baya Weaver bird, had made a very comfortable nest. While she was sitting inside, she heard a cry for help.

When Browny peeped out of her nest, she saw Chillo Eagle’s little baby lying on the ground. He was screaming for help. Looking at his pitiable condition Browny felt sad.

She decided to help the baby. Blacky Crow was watching her from his nest.

Blacky tried to stop Browny. He said, “Don’t go out in such bad weather. Something bad can happen to you.”

Browny disagreed. She said, “Blacky, I don’t think we should be selfish. If we don’t help this baby, the poor thing will die of cold.”

Blacky continued, “I am telling you, forget the baby Eagle. Stay warm in your nest.”

However, Browny couldn’t do so.

She brought the baby Eagle to her nest.

The baby said, “Thank you Aunty. Some of my friends may also be shivering in cold. I am worried about them. I don’t know how they would be. We were playing together when the storm came. Thus, we got separated.”

“Don’t worry. I will try to find them,” assured Browny.

She flew out of the nest to search for the other babies.

Blacky made fun of Browny. He said, “It seems as if your brain has stopped working. Are you making your nest a lodge by bringing all of them here?”

Browny soon found the baby Parrot, the baby Woodpecker and the baby Bat near some bushes. They were shivering. The baby Kingfisher was also crying. Browny brought everyone to her nest.

The nest was quite warm and welcoming. The friends were reunited in Browny’s nest. They were happy.

Browny had some walnuts. The Woodpecker broke the shells with his beak. All of them ate walnuts together. The real fun had now begun!

The Parrot could sing. He sang songs and entertained everybody. The Bat hung down a branch. His actions made everybody laugh and clap.

Everyone was having fun in Browny’s nest. However, Blacky was feeling bored in his nest. He had nobody to talk to. He was feeling lonely and sad.

Blacky thought, “I wish I had helped somebody like Browny.”

Blacky now came out of his nest. He flew to Browny’s nest and said, “Friends, I can neither sing well nor play well, but I can dance. If you wish, I can entertain you.”

They welcomed him to the nest. Blacky began dancing. His funny dance moves made everybody laugh a lot. He was very entertaining.

Blacky enjoyed himself in their company. He was happy. From then onwards, he decided that he would always help others.

Power of Running

Naughty Baddy Gets Caught

Blacky bear was returning home carrying a pot filled with honey.
Suddenly, a lot of thorns got stuck in his foot. He cried out in pain. He sat down and kept the honey pot on the side and started removing the thorns from
his feet.

“Why are there so many thorns on the path?” thought Blacky to himself.

After some time, when Blacky had removed all the thorns, he went to pick up his pot but saw that it had disappeared. It was no longer on the spot where he had kept it. He started searching for the pot everywhere but could not find it.

“What are you looking for?” said Teetu butterfly who was passing by.

“Someone stole my pot that was filled with honey,” said Blacky sadly. He explained what had happened to Teetu.

“Was your pot brown in colour?” asked Teetu curiously.

“Oh yes! How do you know?” asked Blacky surprised.

“While I was coming here, I saw Baddy fox running away with a brown pot,” Teetu replied.

“Oh, how dare he! I am going to teach him a lesson. But I don’t know how to find him,” said Blacky in dismay.

“Why don’t you ask Cheeku rabbit to help you? He is the best detective we have in Champakvan. He can surely help you,” suggested Teetu.

“Thank you for the idea Teetu, but I don’t think Cheeku will help me this time,” said Blacky, his face falling even more.

“Why do you say that?” asked Teetu, surprised.

“It so happened, a few days back there were some guests at Cheeku’s house.
They wanted to taste the honey from our forest. Cheeku came to me to ask for some honey but I refused to give it to him despite having some with me. Cheeku is upset with me since then,” Blacky told Teetu.

“What you did is wrong Blacky. A good neighbour should always help other neighbours in times of need,” said Teetu.

“I agree it was my mistake. I forgot we need each other in times of difficulties. Not sharing the honey was not good behaviour on my part. Now you tell me how I should patch up with Cheeku?” said Blacky who was feeling bad.

“I can help you if you promise to not behave so selfishly in future. I will talk to Cheeku and ask him to help,” said Teetu.

Blacky promised Teetu that he would be a better neighbour and Teetu and Blacky left to meet Cheeku.

Teetu explained everything to Cheeku and Blacky apologised. They both hugged each other. Blacky then told Cheeku what had happened to him.

“Was the pot filled with honey till the top?” Cheeku questioned.

“Yes, the pot was filled to the brim. Also, there was also no lid over it,” said Blacky.

”And Teetu said that she saw Baddy running with the pot on his shoulder. Teetu, which direction were you coming from?” Cheeku asked Teetu.

“I was coming from the west,” said Teetu.

“Hmmm… The Black Mountain forest is to the west. Baddy must be staying in that forest for some days,” Cheeku thought to himself.

“Each criminal leaves behind some clues that help us find them. Let us walk towards the Black Mountain and see if we can find anything,” Cheeku said to both of them.

After some time, they were standing on the way towards the Black Mountain.
Everyone knew that naughty thieves usually lived there. Even during the day, the way was quiet and empty.

“See, there are a few drops of honey on the ground. The honey must have spilled while Baddy was running,” said Cheeku pointing towards the drops on the ground. “This clue is enough for us to get to him.”

“How can a few drops of honey help us catch Baddy?” asked Blacky, confused.

“With the help of this robotic fly,” said Cheeku as he removed something from his pocket. “This fly has a sensor. It can smell the honey and find out if there is more of it in the area of 100 kilometres from here,” explained Cheeku with a smile.

“So, this robotic fly will reach exactly where Baddy has kept the honey pot,” said Teetu with excitement.

The robotic fly smelled the honey and flew away. Cheeku then took out his laptop and opened it. After some time they could see Baddy on the screen. He was enjoying the stolen honey along with his friends.

“See how the robotic fly has shown us exactly where Baddy is. The robotic fly has a spy camera in it because of which we are able to see Baddy on the screen here,” Cheeku told both Teetu and Blacky.

“Now let us inform inspector Jumbo elephant about Baddy’s new hiding place in the Black Mountain,” said Cheeku.

“But I want to punish him and teach him a lesson,” said Blacky angrily.

“The police are there to teach him and his naughty friends a lesson. You should be happy, Blacky. You are getting your honey pot with some honey still left inside it,” explained Cheeku.

The police caught Baddy and his friends. Blacky shared the remaining honey with Teetu and Cheeku. He realised there is more happiness in sharing than having everything by himself.

Superstitious Terry

Terry, the tiger, was passing by the monkey colony when he met Mandy, the monkey.

“Hi, Terry! Where are you going? And why do you look so weak?” asked Mandy.

“Well, Mandy, I’ve had a fever for the last two days. I’ve tried several home remedies but my fever isn’t going down,” said Terry.

“Why don’t you come with me to Dr. Benny, the bear’s hospital then? I’m a nurse there. Dr. Benny will examine you and prescribe proper medicines,” said Mandy.

“But I don’t want to go to a hospital. I want…” said Terry, becoming quiet midway. Mandy felt Terry’s forehead and said, “Terry, you’re running a high fever. What if you have malaria?” Terry shook his head and said, “No, I don’t think I have malaria. I think someone has turned their evil eye on me.”

“There’s no such thing as an evil eye. We fall sick because of mosquito bites, our unhealthy diet, lifestyle, and changes in the weather,” said Mandy.

“But the holy fox, who has just arrived in our forest, told me that we fall sick because of the evil eye. But he also has a solution for it. We can recover quickly by wearing a talisman specially made and blessed by him,” said Terry.

Mandy laughed and said, “I can’t believe you. You have fallen into the trap of that sly fox? I thought you were a sensible tiger.”

“No, no, believe me. Even I didn’t trust the holy fox in the beginning. But then I saw the truth with my own eyes! Gina, the jackal and Kalu, the hyena, were in terrible pain, but as soon as they wore the talisman, they were cured instantly. It was magical! They started jumping and dancing around,” said Terry.

“Look, Terry! You can’t cure people with magic. Please visit the doctor with me. If you keep listening to your holy fox, your condition will worsen,” said Mandy, trying to reason with Terry.

“No Mandy. I’ll leave now. I’ll come and visit you this evening. By then, I’ll be fully cured because of the holy fox’s blessing and the talisman,” said Terry, and went to the ashram of the holy fox.

When Terry reached the holy fox’s ashram, he saw a long line of animals. Terry joined in and waited for his turn.

When Terry entered the room, he saw some burning incense sticks. In the middle of the room, the holy fox sat on the throne.

Terry bowed down to the holy fox and told him about his illness. The holy fox closed his eyes and started chanting.

The holy fox opened his eyes and asked, “Is there a weak animal living near your house?”

Terry thought about it for some time and said, “Yes, dear fox. Drake, the deer stay near my house. He is much weaker than me and often asks me for help.”

“That’s it! That deer is the reason for your illness,” said the fox in a booming voice.

Terry was surprised. He asked, “How is that, dear fox?”

“Didn’t I tell you yesterday that the cause of your illness is an evil eye? Drake is jealous of your tall and broad build, and your strength. He is the one who laid an evil eye on you. Till he is around you, you will keep getting weaker day by day,” said the fox.

“But Drake is a good friend and neighbour of mine,” said Terry.

The holy fox said, “Sometimes your closest friends are your real enemies. You should stop talking to Drake completely. Give me a thousand rupees. I’ll make a special talisman for you. Wear it at night before you go to bed. In a few days, you will feel good again.”

Terry paid the holy fox and got a talisman made. He also stopped talking to Drake. Despite this, Terry’s condition worsened. He neither visited a doctor nor took any medicines.

One day, as Terry was taking a walk in his garden, and he fainted and fell on the ground. His neighbour, Drake happened to notice him lying on the ground. He immediately started screaming out for help.

“Why would you want to help him? He doesn’t even talk to you. He’d rather believe some fake fox than trust you,” said Nona, the goat.

“It doesn’t matter whether he thinks I’m his friend or not. I still think of him as a friend. And a friend in need is a friend indeed,” said Drake, smiling.

Terry woke up, to find himself in Dr. Benny’s hospital. Mandy and Drake were standing beside his bed.

“How are you feeling, Terry?” asked Mandy.

“I feel a little better now. But who brought me here?” asked Terry.

“Your true friend brought you here, the one whom you had stopped talking to because of the words of a cunning fox,” said Mandy. “If you still believe the fox’s words, then have a look at the bed beside yours.”

“Oh! It’s Gina, the jackal!” said Terry, surprised.

“Now you tell me, if she too had worn the talisman given by the holy fox, how is she still unwell and admitted in this hospital with you?” asked Mandy.

“The fox paid her to act in front of the people who came to visit him. Whenever he had a new visitor, Gina and Kalu would pretend to be unwell and the fox would pretend to cure them magically,” said Mandy, explaining the plan.

“But how did you find out about their plan?” asked Terry.

“That’s easy! Gina has typhoid. She came to the hospital wearing the talisman which clearly failed to prevent her from falling ill. So, I asked her and learned the whole truth,” said Mandy, smiling.

Terry felt stupid for being so superstitious. He hugged Drake and apologised for his behaviour. Gina, too, confessed to the police and got the fox arrested for spreading superstitions.

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