A fable from the Panchatantra, retold for children in our own words. The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian collection of animal stories traditionally attributed to the scholar Vishnu Sharma. This story comes from Book 5: Acting without thinking.
There was once a poor man who was given a pot full of barley flour. He hung the pot from a peg above his bed, lay down, and gazed up at it happily.
“If there is a famine,” he dreamed, “I will sell this flour for a hundred coins. With the coins I will buy two goats, and the goats will have kids.”
“I will sell the goats and buy cows, then sell the cows and buy horses. I will become rich, build a grand house, and everyone will come to visit me.”
“I will have a family, and when my little son is noisy and will not listen, I will tell him to be quiet, like this!” And he kicked his foot out hard.
His foot hit the pot. Down it came, CRASH, and the flour spilled all over him and the floor. He sat up, white with flour from head to toe.
There were no coins, no goats, no horses and no grand house, only a mess to sweep up. The man laughed at himself, fetched a broom, and decided to start with one small step instead.
The moral of the story
Dreaming is fun, but do not get so lost in tomorrow that you spoil what you have today.
Talk about it
- What did the man dream he would buy with the flour?
- Why did the pot fall?
- What is one small step towards something you would like to do?
Tips for reading aloud
- Use a different voice for each animal.
- Pause before the turning point and ask, “What do you think happens next?”
- Open the picture book and press Read to me to hear it read aloud, with the pages turning by themselves.
More fables: the Panchatantra bookshelf.
