Taatayya Kathalu in English

            It was the rainy season. The forest was thriving with lush green leaves and fresh flowers. All birds and animals were busy collecting food during breaks in the showering rain.           A pigeon was making some repair work in her nest. She was busy collecting available dry sticks. She was flying here and there. Suddenly, she saw a honey bee being drifted in the river below. The honey bee was trying hard to keep its wings dry. The pigeon was very much sorry for the bee. In an effort to save the honey bee, the pigeon plucked a dry leaf and threw it at the bee.         The honey bee was strong enough to lift itself and lay on the dry leaf for some time. Once she was totally dry, the honey bee flew happily saying, "Dear friend, I shall not forget this timely help." Days passed. Autumn came. Hunters poached the forest in search of animals to hunt. They killed any animal they set eyes on.     ...

             We all know that the deer is a charming animal. It has beautiful skin and strong horns. A deer's walk is a beautiful sight to see. This beauty attracts many poachers to deer hunting.                This is one such story. A hunter was tracking a deer for quite some days. He found that the deer came exactly to the same tree each day and ate fruits that were lying there beneath the tree. He was so attracted by the beauty of the deer that he wanted to catch the deer alive. He thought, "If I set a trap here, I can catch the deer." He started implementing his plan.             He set his trap and put abundant fruits to cover up. The deer came there exactly as calculated by the hunter. But, when it saw more fruits than usual lying beneath the tree, it got suspicious and started sniffing around. Now the deer could smell the hunter hiding behind the tree. So, instead o...

       Two parrots of the same breed went to two different persons. One was a sadhu and the other was a criminal. The sadhu used to pray everyday morning, "Ram, Ram. Save the world." The parrot, living with the sadhu, also learnt to repeat the prayer.         The criminal used to scold and utter bad words right from morning tonight. The parrot, living there, also learnt to use bad words. One day, the parrot that lived with the sadhu wanted to meet the other one. It flew all the way to the criminal's house. The moment it set foot there, it heard loud scolding and bad words exchanged harshly from the parrot there. It could not believe its ears.        So, it convinced the parrot to join with the sadhu and exchanged places. Now, the criminal started hearing the prayers, "Ram, Ram. Save the world." The parrot that had gone to the sadhu also started to hear the same prayer. In due course of time, the criminal turned good and his par...

             Once, an antelope got trapped in a hunter's net. He tried as hard as he could, He could not free himself.               He started to panic and cry. A woodpecker heard the cry. She wanted to help the antelope. She flew to a nearby pond and asked the animals there, "Please come with me to help an antelope that is trapped." Only a tortoise was helpful. The woodpecker asked the tortoise to gnaw at the noose of the trap and flew to the village in search of the hunter's home.            The hunter was fast asleep. In the meantime, the tortoise gnawed away the noose and freed the antelope. The woodpecker was happy that she could help a fellow-creature. Moral: SELFLESS HELP IS SERVICE TO GOD !!! *** *** ***

             In a forest, valley lived a variety of strange deer. They had attractive golden skin. The skin was so shiny that it looked like real gold. Abu was a hunter who lived in a nearby village.             He had heard plenty of stories about the golden deer. He wanted to catch at least one such golden deer. Abu roamed all across the forest in search and finally found them grazing in a remote valley. He set some traps and waited. When the golden deer herd came that way, one deer fell in the trap and got caught. At once, the deer shouted, "There are traps in this area. Everybody leave." On hearing this caution all other deers ran away from that place. However, the deer's brother and sister did not leave.          They started mourning, "How can we leave you dear brother? We shall all stay together till the end of life." Abu, who was witnessing all this, felt very emotional and set the golden d...

A hunter made his living by hunting wild animals and selling their flesh and hide in the local market.         He was a very effective hunter. His aim never missed. Once, he found two monkeys playing. He took his bow and slung arrow. A young monkey, who was high up on a tree, saw him and ran to him and pleaded, "Dear hunter, I have heard of you. You are very good at hunting. But, please spare us. One is my mother and the other is my brother.      We are a family. Please. Don't spoil our family." The hunter was touched by the family attachment. He promised, "I shall not kill any more monkeys." When the hunter returned home, he saw all his neighbours running here and there. When they saw him, one of his neighbours came running and said, "You are a very lucky person. There was a fire in the neighbourhood. But, your home is very safe. So is your family." The hunter thought to himself, "God has spared my family because I had spared the family of the mo...

           Deep in the forest, lived a doe and a deer. They were a perfect couple. They were in deep love. They were totally devoted to one another. Life was happy for them. One day, the deer was caught in a trap laid by a hunter. He warned the doe, "Don't come here, dear wife. You will also get caught." However, the doe did not leave her husband.   Soon, the hunter came to catch the deer. He was astonished to see the doe lying near the deer. On seeing the hunter, the doe started in a feeble voice, "Hey hunter, if you really want, take me instead of my husband. I can't live without him." The deer said, "Hey hunter, please kill me first. can't see my wife being killed." The hunter was wonderstruck at the depth of their love. He set the deer free and went empty-handed. Only his hands were empty, his heart was full.  Moral: TRUE LOVE WINS !!! *** *** ***

            Although animals of the same breed tend to be friends, sometimes there develops a dear friendship among animals of varied kinds. Once, a deer, a tortoise, a rabbit, and a crow became very close friends. They shared many things they could with one another. Life was very happy for the friends. There is a twist in everybody's life.  A hunter was lucky enough to catch the tortoise. As he started carrying the tortoise, the remaining friends cooked a plan to help their friend. The crow started cawing loud. The hunter turned to look in that direction. There he saw the beautiful deer dancing. He could not resist his eagerness to catch the deer. He let the tortoise down and took his bow and arrow to aim at the deer. The moment the hunter let the tortoise down, the rat signaled the tortoise to crawl as fast as he could and dive into the nearby pond. By the time the hunter took his aim, the deer ran away from the place. Thus, both the friends escaped ...

     Pigeons are birds that live in groups. It is very difficult to see a single pigeon. Hunters know this fact. So, whenever they lay nets to catch pigeons, they get many pigeons together. This is one such story. A hunter had laid his net near a paddy field. He was waiting high up on a branch of a nearby banyan tree. Soon a group of pigeons flew to the paddy field to graze. They all got caught in the net. They were all very afraid of what would happen next. There was one wise pigeon. He said, "Friends, we should not be afraid. We have to be courageous. Let us join together. It is time for us to be united. We should fly all at once. Let us flap our wings in unison." Saying this, the smart pigeon started to flap its wings. All other pigeons also started to flap their wings. Soon there was a rhythm and they started to rise. This encouraged the pigeons to flap still faster. Suddenly, the net tore away and the pigeons were free. They flew away happily. Moral: UNITY IS STRENGT...