TALES FROM READERS

• A Parrot and A Crow NEW
• Speaking Garden and Speaking Well NEW
• The Mysterious Voice NEW
• Be Helpful
• When Trees stopped speaking
• Gujarati Dhokala
• Village Leader and the Fallen Berries
• Lucky Pandit Tida Joshi
• The Coconuts story
• A Dream Saved the King!
• Lazy Pigeon
• A Scary Cold Water Drop
• Intelligent Merchants
• A Clever Old Woman
• Father, Son and a Crow
• The Mystery of Twin Town
• Miracle
• Bhola Bear Gets Honey
• Fear of LIZARD
• Rinku Rabbit Teaches A Lesson
• Every Tiger Has It's Day
• Mrs. Squirrel's Beachy Holiday
• Bella, Billu And The Billi
• A Suitable Match
• Chimpu- The Jungle Detective
  The Case of The Hidden Treasure
• Daring Sia and The Theft of The Twisted Candles
• Chimpu-The Jungle Detective
  The Case of The Stolen Honey
• The Princess of the Blue lotus
• Inspiration
• A Better Place to Live
• Sid And The Pirates 1
• Sid And The Pirates 2
• Sid And The Pirates 3
• Rinku
• Tula Wants To Grow Up!
• Shining In The Dark
• The Guru
• O.D.D.
• The Girl With X-Ray Eyes
• An Eerie Experience
• Scared Speechless!
• The Haunted House
• The Lily Pad(dle) Boat
• Little Tom And His Pets
• Deepa And The King of The Ocean
• Magic Rose
• Charlie's Pet Lion
• The Three Princesses
• The Ring
• Traitors You Can't Sustain!
• Friends And Enemies
• Bruno, The Sheep Dog
• Roses And Cacti
• Hardwork Pays
• No Pain, No Gain!
• The Magical Pond
• Everything For Something
• The Eavesdropper
• The Crow That Boasted
• The Golden Bird
• Asha And Aadesh In Frogindom!
• Moon's Magic
• Baby Tree Wants Ice Cream!
• Jackal And Birds
• Roll Model
• When The Teacher Became The King
• The Blind Beggar
• A Night of fun in the Desert Village
• The Blind Woman
• The Pirate's Mistake
• Team Work Wins
• Bobby Turns Brave
• The Two Princess
• God Everywhere
• The Mongoose And The Snake
• The Missing Sweetmeat
• The Mule
• The Wishing Tree
• The Magic Potion
• King And The Three Sons
• An Old Lady And The Lamp
• The Kindhearted Villager
• Christopher's Encounter With The Aliens
• The Mysterious School
• The Coconut Tree
• Count The Blessing Not The Curses
• Wonderful X'mas Gift
• Tikku and the Rats
• The Magic Hole
• A Mysterious Memory
• The Lost Ball
• Gundu and Mithu
• Home Alone
• Holidays
• Sleepovers
• The Secret of Work
• Little Friend
• Mr. Twinkle Transforms
• April Fool
• The Call
• The Thief Caught Atlast
• The Monkey And The Dolphin
• Toko Castle
• Elephant, Croc And Toad
• Vice of Dice!
• Laughter Is The Best Medicine
• My Meet With God
• The Impossible Magic!
• Encounter with the Friday Ghost
• The Last Wish
• A Fearful Event
• A King's Costly Mistake
• The Clever Pussy Cat
• The Dangerous Silky Bed!
• The Magical Ink
• The Magic Of The Map
• The Stormy Night with my Cousins

The Clever Pussy Cat

Mitti is a fat, little pussycat. She loves to EAT fish!
Mitti is very, very FUSSY!
She hates STALE fish.
She eats only FRESH fish!
Today, Mitti has caught a lot of fish!
She does not know what to do.
She cannot eat ALL the fish!
What SHOULD she do with the extra fish? If she keeps it on the table, it will ROT. Germs will SPOIL the fish!
THINK Mitti, THINK!
Aha! Mitti has an idea. A wonderful IDEA!
She will keep the fish in her fridge. Ice will keep it fresh. It will kill the horrid GERMS. Mitti, you are a very CLEVER cat!
"But if I am very hungry?" says Mitti. "I will HAVE to eat FROZEN fish. I HATE icy, cold fish!"
THINK Mitti, THINK!
"Germs will die if I REMOVE the water from inside the fish!" says Mitti, after a LOT of thinking. "Germs need AIR and WATER to grow!"
Hey, Mitti! You are very, very CLEVER!
So Mitti puts SALT on some of the fish. The salt will take away the water from INSIDE the fish. GERMS will NOT be able to live. The fish will NOT ROT! She keeps the salty fish on a rock. The sun will DRY the fish.
Mitti then has another wonderful IDEA! She puts some fish on a rod. She lights a fire under the fish. The fire gives SMOKE. HOT smoke. It makes water inside the fish EVAPORATE! The bad germs die. The smoked fish will NOT get spoilt for sometime.
Mitti is a very CLEVER pussycat!
She has found three ways to PRESERVE the wet, fresh fish. FRIDGE it OR SMOKE it OR SALT it! The fish will NOT become stale.
Mitti is TIRED. She has done a lot of work. She did a lot of THINKING! So Mitti goes into the house to have a bowl of milk. MILK will make her teeth and bones STRONG.
Natkat crow sees the fish being smoked on top of the fire.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!" crows Natkat crow happily. "Food to eat!"
But Natkat is SCARED of fire. So he does NOT touch the SMOKED fish. He pecks into the SALTY fish on the rock.
"Cawwwwch!" caws Natkat sadly. "This fish DOES NOT taste nice! I feel VERY, VERY sick!"
Natkat flies away. He HAS to peck a SWEET orange. THAT will take away the nasty SALTY taste from his mouth!
Little Cheenti ant sees the fish on the rock.
"I must TELL everybody there is fishy food to eat!" says Cheenti.
Cheenti takes a teeny, weeny bite of the salty fish.
"Cheeeeee!" gulps Cheenti. "This fish DOES NOT taste nice! I feel VERY, VERY sick!"
Cheenti wobbles away in search of SWEET nectar. THAT will take away the nasty SALTY taste from his mouth!
Chanchal monkey sees the fish. He does NOT touch the smoked fish. He is VERY scared of fire. So he picks a SALTY fish drying on the rock. He takes a BIG bite of the fish.
"Yeeeeechhhh!" screeches Chanchal. "This fish DOES NOT taste nice! I feel VERY, VERY sick!"
Chanchal runs away as FAST as he can. He HAS to eat SWEET banana. His mouth has a NASTY SALTY taste in it!
Everyone now knows Mitti has fish which DOES NOT taste nice!
"I am going to host a FISH party," says Mitti happily to her friends. "I have LOTS of fish! Will you ALL come?"
"NO!" caws Natkat crow.
"NO!" squeals Cheenti aunt.
"NO!" chatters Chanchal monkey.
"NO!" cheeps Choti sparrow.
"NO!" barks Moti puppy.
"NO!" mumbles Chachi squirrel.
"No!" growls Motu, the roly-poly baby bear. "I hear your fish is NOT nice!"
Mitti wonders why NO ONE wants to come to her fish party!
But she is VERY happy! Now she can eat ALL the fish. She does NOT have to SHARE it. No friend will say she is SELFISH for NO ONE wanted it!
So everyday Mitti has a lovely meal. Mice with lots of fish and a bowl of milk!

By Hema Rao, New Delhi 110018