Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and fellow friends.

Today, I
am here to share a story, entitle ‘The Lion and the Mouse’.

Once when a lion, the king of the jungle, was asleep, a little mouse began
running up and down on him. This soon awakened the lion, who placed his huge
paw on the mouse, and opened his big jaws to swallow him.

"Pardon, O King!" cried the little Mouse, "Forgive me this time. I shall never
repeat it and I shall never forget your kindness. And who knows, I may be able to
do you a good turn one of these days!”

The Lion was so tickled by the idea of the mouse being able to help him that he
lifted his paw and let him go.

Sometime later, a few hunters captured the lion, and tied him to a tree. After that
they went in search of a wagon, to take him to the zoo.

Just then the little mouse happened to pass by. On seeing the lion’s plight, he
ran up to him and gnawed away the ropes that bound him, the king of the jungle.

"Was I not right?" said the little mouse, very happy to help the lion.

Ladies and gentlemen, the moral of the story is Small acts of kindness will be
rewarded greatly.
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and fellow friends. Today, I
am here to share a story, entitle ‘The Boy who Cried Wolf’.

Once there was a shepherd boy who had to look after a flock of sheep. One day,
he felt bored and decided to play a trick on the villagers. He shouted, “Help! Wolf!
Wolf!”

The villagers heard his cries and rushed out of the village to help the shepherd
boy. When they reached him, they asked, “Where is the wolf?” The shepherd boy
laughed loudly, “Ha, Ha, Ha! I fooled all of you.

I was only playing a trick on you.”

A few days later, the shepherd boy played this trick again.

Again he cried, “Help! Help! Wolf! Wolf!” Again, the villagers rushed up the hill to
help him and again they found that boy had tricked them. They were very angry
with him for being so naughty.

Then, some time later, a wolf went into the field. The wolf attacked one sheep,
and then another and another. The shepherd boy ran towards the village
shouting, “Help! Help! Wolf! Help! Somebody!”
The villagers heard his cries but they laughed because they thought it was
another trick. The boy ran to the nearest villager and said, “A wolf is attacking the
sheep. I lied before, but this time it is true!”

Finally, the villagers went to look. It was true. They could see the wolf running
away and many dead sheep lying on the grass.
Ladies and gentlemen, We may not believe someone who often tells lies,
even when he tells the truth.
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and fellow friends. Today, I
am here to share a story, entitle ‘The Milkmaid and her pail’.

Jenny the Milkmaid was going to market carrying her milk in a pail on her head.

As she went along, she began calculating what she would do with the money she
would get for the milk. I'll buy some fowls from Farmer Brown," said she, "and
they will lay eggs each morning, which I will sell to the parson's wife..

With the money that I get from the sale of these eggs, I'll buy myself a new dimity
frock and a chip hat; and when I go to market, won't all the young men come up
and speak to me!

Polly will be so jealous; but I don't care. I shall just look at her and toss my head
like this." As she spoke that, she tossed her head back and the pail fell off it, and
all the milk was spilt!

Ladies and gentlemen, the moral of the story is DO NOT COUNT YOUR
CHICKENS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED.
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and fellow friends. Today, I
am here to share a story, entitle ‘The Monkey and the Dolphin’.

One day long ago, some sailors set out to sea in their sailing ship. One of them
brought his pet monkey along for the long journey.

When they were far out at sea, a terrible storm overturned their ship. Everyone
fell into the sea, and the monkey was sure that he would drown. Suddenly a
dolphin appeared and picked him up.

They soon reached the island and the monkey came down from the dolphin’s
back. The dolphin asked the monkey, “Do you know this place?”

The monkey replied, “Yes, I do. In fact, the king of the island is my best friend.
Do you know that I am actually a prince?”

Knowing that no one lived on the island, the dolphin said, “Well, well, so you are
a prince! Now you can be a king!” The monkey asked, “How can I be a king?”

As the dolphin started swimming away, he answered, “That is easy. As you are
the only creature on this island, you will naturally be the king!”

Ladies and gentlemen, please remember that Those who lie and boast may
end up in trouble.
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and fellow friends. Today, I
am here to share a story, entitle ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’.

There once was a speedy Hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired
of hearing him boast, the Tortoise challenged him to a race. All the animals in the
forest gathered to watch.

The Hare ran down the road for a while and then paused to rest. He looked back
at the tortoise and cried out, "How do you expect to win this race when you are
walking along at your slow, slow pace?"

The Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking,
"There is plenty of time to relax."

The Tortoise walked and walked; never ever stopping until he came to the finish
line.

The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise that they woke up
Hare. The Hare stretched, yawned and began to run again, but it was too late.
Tortoise had already crossed the finish line.

Ladies and gentlemen, we should not boast and be proud of ourselves. We

Long ago, people happily lived under the rule of a king. The people of the
kingdom were very happy as they had a very prosperous life with abundance of
wealth and no misfortunes.

The king decided to go on a travel to visit places of historical importance and

After several weeks, he returned to the palace. He was quite happy that he
visited many pilgrim centres and could see his fellow people leading a propitious
life. However, he had regret.

He had intolerable pain in his feet as it was his first trip by foot to longer distance.
He complained to his ministers that the roads weren’t comfortable and were very
stony. He could not tolerate the pain as he walked all the way through the rough
path.

He said he was very much worried about the people who used to walk along
those roads as it would be painful for them too!

He made an order to cover the road of the whole country with leather so that
people might feel comfortable, immediately.

The king thought that he had to change this for the betterment and happiness of
the people.

His ministers were stunned to hear his order as it would destroy the life of
thousands of cows to get the sufficient quantity of leather and it would cost a
huge amount of money also.
A wise man from the ministry came to the king and said that he had another idea.

The king asked - what was his alternative idea. The minister told, ‘Why do you
want to kill the holy animal cow to cover the road with leather? Rather, you can
just have a piece of leather cut in appropriate shape to cover your feet?’

The king was very much surprised by his suggestion and applauded the minister.
He ordered for a pair of leather shoes for him and requested the countrymen to
wear shoes.

Many of us criticize the world for many things. We curse and blame the
things in our surroundings and never understand that we need a change in
us. Changes are inevitable in the world, and the changes should be from us.
We cannot or should not force others to make a change.
The Parable of the Pencil

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

“There are 5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “Before I send you out
into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the
best pencil you can be.”

One: “You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to
be held in someone’s hand.”

Two: “You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need
it to become a better pencil.”

Three: “You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.”

Four: “The most important part of you will always be what's inside.”

And Five: “On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No
matter what the condition, you must continue to write.”

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with
purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and
never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.
One: “You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to
be held in God’s hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many
gifts you possess.”

Two: “You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going
through various problems in life, but you’ll need it to become a stronger person.”

Three: “You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.”

Four: “The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside.”

And Five: “On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No
matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.”

Allow this parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special
person and only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.

Ladies and gentlemen, Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think
that your life is insignificant and cannot make a change.
The Tree and the Traveller

There was a big tree more than hundred years old located in the middle of a dry
land. It gave rest and shelter to hundreds and thousands of travellers. The tree
was located at the centre of four different towns, act as a connection point of all
towns and villages in the nearby area. However, except the big old tree, there
was no other tree that can offer rest to the people. The tree has a huge and
broad trunk with innumerable branches which spread the shadow covering a
wide space.

One day, two travellers were travelling from a distant place and tried to reach a
town located at the east of the tree. They were walking for several miles on a hot
and sunny day. They started their journey from early morning and it was almost
mid noon. The sun was too hot and they could not walk anymore due to the heat.
They were completely exhausted! Fortunately, they reached the place where the
tree was located.

They were very happy to see such a big tree with breezing wind. They decided to
take rest under the tree. They slept for some time happily enjoying the soothing
cool breeze of the tree.

They felt hungry and one of the travellers decided to climb the branches to see
whether the tree has any fruit. Since it is not a fruit-bearing tree, the traveller was
disappointed.
He started cursing the tree owing to his hunger. ‘Oh, this is just a useless tree
and it has nothing to feed us, not even a fruit or even nuts! It is of no use!’
The other traveller composed him and asked him to stay cool. However, the
traveller was so angry due to hunger and cursed the tree.

The tree, which could not tolerate the cursing words of the traveller, in a sad yet
strong voice, ‘You can’t be so ungrateful to me. Just look back at the condition
when you reached here in the hot and dry sun! I offered you cool and
comfortable place to rest and sleep with soothing breeze. If I’m not here when
you are very tired you would have died now! I saved your life from the hot sun,
but you humiliate me!’

The traveller realized his mistake and apologized to the tree.

Every creation of God has innumerable benefits to the mankind. There is