Once upon a time a Deer lived in a forest near a lake. Not far from the same lake, a Woodpecker had a nest in the top of a tree; and in the lake lived a Turtle. The three were friends, and lived together happily.

One day while a Lion was eating his dinner a bone stuck in his throat. It hurt so that he could not finish his dinner. He walked up and down, up and down, roaring with pain.

Once upon a time, many, many wild Goats lived in a cave in the side of a hill. A Wolf lived with his mate not far from this cave. Like all Wolves they liked the taste of Goat-meat. So they caught the Goats,

Once upon a time a Big Rat lived in the forest, and many hundreds of other Rats called him their Chief. A Tricky Wolf saw this troop of Rats, and began to plan how he could catch them. He wanted to eat them,

Once upon a time three Fishes lived in a far-away river. They were named Thoughtful, Very-Thoughtful, and Thoughtless. One day they left the wild country where no men lived, and came down the river to live near a town.

Once upon a time a king gave a holiday to all the people in one of his cities. The king’s gardener thought to himself: “All my friends are having a holiday in the city.

At one time there were two traders who were great friends. One of them lived in a small village, and one lived in a large town near-by. One day the village trader took his plow to the large town to have it mended.

Once upon a time four young princes heard a story about a certain wonderful tree, called the Red-Bud Tree. No one of them had ever seen a Red-Bud Tree, and each prince wished to be the first to see one.