another, fluffing out his wings to look bigger than he actually was.
“I’ve a good mind to fly down on that farmer’s hat,” said the third crow.
But none of the crows moved, except from time to time to fly away from the field, returning to see if the farmer was still there. “He’s one stubborn man,” said one of the crows.
“Maybe if we wait until it gets dark, the farmer will be as hungry and tried as we are, and go home,” said one crow, shifting his position on the fence.
The crows waited. And waited. And waited. But by the light of the moon the farmer looked even more scary with his arms casting a long shadow across the field.
Morning came. The crows had had enough. “That farmer will never leave,” said one, as they flew off in search of a better corn field.
After eating his breakfast, the farmer came out of his house and went into the field to put more straw into the scarecrow’s chest, glad to keep his crop safe.
Moral: Your worst fears may be wrong.
Pink Elephants
Two cats went for a walk in their neighborhood.
“Have you ever seen a pink elephant?” asked one of them.
“No,” said the other, “because there are no pink elephants.”
“Of course there are,” said the other.
“Ain’t so,” taunted the second cat.
The first cat stopped for a moment before speaking. “Tell you what—I want you to stop thinking about pink elephants, since according to you they aren’t real. Whatever you do, don’t think about pink elephants.”
“That should be easy,” said the other cat.
All day long he tried to stop thinking about pink elephants, but all day long that’s all he could think about. He thought about them so much that he began to believe they were real, and when at night he fell into an exhausted sleep, he dreamt about . . . you guessed it, pink elephants.
Moral: Just let go. The harder you try to get rid of some ideas or people, they more they hang around.
The Wood Thrush’s Song
The wood thrush was very scared and quite hungry, so he let out a cry that other birds might hear. The note split the air with its harshness. All the other birds flew away.
One day the wood thrush saw a sunflower growing so high that it touched the branch on which he was perching.
“What a magnificent show,” he said to himself. “I must do something to show my appreciation!”
He tried clapping, but there was no sound. He flapped his wings, but he only managed to stir the air around him.
Suddenly, without thinking, he felt within himself a deep joy he had never felt before, so he let it rise from within until he couldn’t help but release it. And one of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard echoed across the woodlands. He thought it was the song of angels, until he realized that when he stopped, so, too, did the song.
“It’s me! I am the songbird!” The wood thrush looked down at the sunflower and sang again a song of great praise.
MORAL: Joy may be brief, but it is worth living for such moments.
The Crocodile’s Dilemma
Most forest creatures consider the crocodile to be the meanest of all who inhabit their world.
Mothers often will tell their children never to go near the water for too long and especially not to wade too deep into rivers where the crocodiles might live or else a monster could leave teeth marks in their necks.
One day a baby bunny was told never to get too close to the water, but when he heard about the monsters he was curious, not afraid. One day he ventured close enough to the edge of the water to speak with a crocodile.
“You are an amazing creature,” said the bunny, “but I am smart and won’t get any closer because I know you would eat me.”
“A wise warning,” said the crocodile, whose eyes were peering at the bunny.
“But I am better at something than you are,” challenged the bunny.
“And what could that possibly be?” bellowed the crocodile, convinced that such a harmless creature could do little better than he could.
“I will challenge you to do something after I do,” said the bunny, “and if I win, you have to promise never to eat me.”
“You’re on,” said the crocodile.
The bunny paused and then spoke: “All you have to do is say something I say and pronounce it correctly: The thunder thrashed against the tiny tigers.”
“That’s not hard,” said the crocodile, as he tried to say the sentence. But no matter how hard or how long he tried, he just couldn’t repeat the sentence correctly.
The bunny repeated the sentence correctly.
“Tell me, bunny,” said the crocodile, “how did you know I would not be able to say this sentence?”
“Easy,” replied the bunny. “I was told by other creatures that you cannot move your tongue, and I figured you’d never be able to say ‘the thunder thrashed against the tiny tigers.’”
The crocodile laughed and swam away, but not before saying: “A deal is a deal. I won’t eat you.”
Moral: Sometimes knowledge is better than brute strength.
The Skunk’s Kingdom
All the creatures of the forest had gathered to vote on who would be king for the year.
As with humans, so with animals—in crowds they sometimes argue and have to be stopped from hitting one another.
The lion argued that the strongest should rule, for, he said: “If we are ever attacked, I will lead our troops into battle!”
The beaver responded that he had a better idea; he would build a dam around the forest so that no one could get in. The wasp replied that his army would sting any invaders before they set foot in the kingdom.
The animals took a vote and it was split. No one had a clear majority of the votes. The monkeys even claimed the voting was fixed; the elephants replied that they would never forget this day of injustice.
After a tenth vote, the animals were restless. Finally, the skunk spoke out: “My friends, I have only a few words, but I will illustrate what might happen if anyone entered out kingdom to hurt us.” At which point, he lifted his tail and released a tremendous fume of ill smelling fluid. All the animals scattered. The skunk found that he was now alone.
“I cast a vote that the
