Fourteen Folktales from Faraway Lands (Illustrated)

By Surendra Nath

Do you know why the sea is salty? The folks from Germany, Korea, Norway and the Philippines have their versions of why it is salty. This is Children’s literature. But who is not a child at heart? You are going to love this collection of fourteen folktales retold by Surendra Nath, in simple language. Tales from Mexico, Spain, India, Turkey, Ireland, Japan, Afghanistan, France and Russia are utterly enthralling. One of the best tales is 'How the Firefly Got its Twinkle'. Do you know that the firefly didn’t have the glow earlier? It’s amazing how the little beetles got the fire in them
All the stories are fully illustrated.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Surendra Nath
• Release date: Sep 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463915035

Surendra Nath

Surendra Nath is a 60-year old retired naval officer, who has published two books. KARNA’S ALTER EGO (Dream House Publication 2015) received 4.2 star-rating from 66 readers (goodreads). This book was selected by the national library (Raja Ram Mohun Roy Library Foundation) and distributed to state-level libraries. KARNA’S CELESTIAL ARMOR is the sequel that is doing well as an indie eBook. He writes short stories several of which have been published in three different anthologies compiled by Ruskin Bond and published by Rupa Publications. He has contributed articles regularly to several magazines such as, 'The International Indian', 'Telelife', 'B2B digest' and 'Young Times' - all in Dubai, and Political and Business Daily in India. He has translated the first volume of poems of the national award-winning poet Padma Shri Haldhar Nag into English titled KAVYANJALI. This book was selected by Odisha government library (Hare Krushna Mahtab Library) for distribution to district level libraries. POLITICAL & BUSINESS DAILY carried a good review of the translation work. He was the editor and publisher of a national magazine for school children titled KLOUD 9. This quarterly magazine was conceived by him and was launched in May 2012. It is unique in that it publishes stories and poems written by school children from all over the country and abroad

Book preview

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Fourteen Folktales from Faraway Lands

(Illustrated)

Retold By Surendra Mohanty

Illustrations by

Barna Sengupta

Geraldine Lane

Santosh Pattnaik

Tuheen Panda

SNM

Cover Picture by: Geraldine Lane

Published by Surendra Nath at this eBook platform

Copyright 2014 Surendra Nath

License Notes (20.09.18)

Thank you for purchasing this eBook. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, digital, electronics or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Kindle eBooks and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedicated to

Sulochana, Indumati & Maithili

**** **** ****

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The Silver on the Hearth (Afghan Folktale)

2. The Boat that Went Both on Land and Water (French Folktale)

3. How the Firefly Got Its Twinkle (New Tale)

4. Maeve Magee and the Leprechaun’s Pot of Gold (Irish Folktale)

5. The Diving Girl of Oiso Bay (Japanese Folktale)

6. Why is seawater Salty (German Folktale)

7. Why is seawater Salty (Korean Folktale)

8. Why is seawater Salty (Norwegian Folktale)

9. Why is seawater Salty (Philippine Folktale)

10. The Old Lady Who Ate People (Mexican Folktale)

11. The Cat and the Fox (Russian Folktale)

12. The Enchanted Lion (Spanish Folktale)

13. The Cadi of Bassora (Turkish Folktale)

14. The Beggar and the Five Pancakes (Indian Folktale)

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THE SILVER ON THE HEARTH

(An Afghan Folktale)

Once there lived a poor farmer who worked very hard but could never make both ends meet. He was a simpleton, and he struggled hard for nearly a decade to save money to be able to lead a decent life with his wife. But he could never save enough, and ill luck, as well as poverty, seemed never to leave him.

He was so frustrated and so fed up with his plight that he came to believe that it was impossible for him to make anything much through hard work or by any means. He somehow came to believe that the more he ran after good fortune, the more it would get away from him, and if at all he were ever to own anything, it had to appear before him just so. He began to dream and wish that one morning he would simply walk in, and there, upon his hearth he would find a heap of wealth. He believed that there was no other way he would strike his fortune. He resolved not to accept any fortune if he didn’t come upon it lying on his hearth. He was quite convinced by now that the wealth meant for him should be placed upon his hearth.

With such belief, the simple farmer continued to work in his field, knowing that he could never get rich through hard work. But he kept wishing that he would stumble upon a lot of riches on his own hearth, and he checked his hearth every morning.

One day it so happened that when he was working in his field, his clothes got caught in the thorns of a bramble bush. While he tried to disentangle himself, his clothes got torn. He decided to root out the brambles and throw them away so that this wouldn’t happen to him again. So he started to dig around the roots and pull the brambles out of the ground and out of his field. As he dug, he discovered a large earthen pot buried under the bushes. In great excitement, he dug some more uncovered the pot to find it filled with silver coins. ‘What great luck!’ he said to himself. ‘At last, I am rich. I have found buried treasure in my field!’

But soon his excitement faded away. ‘I have wished only to find riches upon my hearth,’ said the farmer. ‘These coins found in the field are surely not meant for me. Therefore I shall not accept them, and if I do, they will surely be lost. What is meant for me will appear upon my hearth, exactly as I have wished.’ So saying the man left the pot of coins where he found it and walked back home.

He told his wife that he had discovered a pot full of silver coins in his field, but since it wasn’t meant for him, he left the pot where he had found it. His wife was angry at his foolishness and asked him to go and get the treasure, but the man insisted that it wasn’t meant for him and refused to go back and fetch the pot. When the farmer went to bed and fell fast asleep, his wife went to their neighbour’s house and told the neighbour about her foolish husband’s discovery, and his refusal to get the riches home. ‘Why don’t you go to our field and fetch the earthen pot?’ she told the neighbour, ‘and we shall share