The Three Questions

King John was the King of England. He did not like anyone else to look ricer than himself. The Abbot of Canterbury was rich. He was enjoying luxurious life. The King did not like the Abbot. He was in great anger. He sent his soldiers to bring the Abbot. The soldiers brought him before the King. The King asked, “Who is greater? The King or an Abbot? Then how bold of you to enjoy much better than the king? You are plotting to become the King of England. It is a crime. Therefore you must die." 

The Abbot was greatly frightened. He said very humbly. “Your Majesty, I have never used others’ money for my use. Is it a crime to spend my own money for my needs?" 

“Yes," replied the King. Then he added, “It is a crime to live grander than the King." 

The Abbot trembled in fear. 

The King continued. “But I shall give you a chance to get pardon. Answer my three questions correctly to my satisfaction." 

Then he gave out the three questions. 

1. Tell me how much I am worth. 
2. How long will it take for me to go around the world? 
3. What I am thinking now?

The Abbot listened. His confusion and fear increased rapidly. He could not speak. Finally he begged for time to answer. Three weeks were given. The Abbot left the palace in a dejected mood. 

On the way, he went into Oxford University and Cambridge University. He met great professors and learned men. He asked them for answers to these three questions. They were not able to find the suitable answers. He was returning home safely. On the way he met his shepherd boy. 

The shepherd asked the Abbot, “Why are you looking so sad, my master?" 

“My dear shepherd, the King has set three questions for me. I have to find answers to his satisfaction, or else die for plotting against the King. The questions are difficult. I have only three days more," replied the Abbot. 

Yussouf

This Short Story Yussouf is quite interesting to all the people. Enjoy reading this story. 

Yussouf was a sheik. He was sitting at the door of his dent in the desert. It was night. Nothing was visible in the desert. The only light was the light that came from the starts in the sky. They were twinkling in the sky. The sheik was sad at heart. He had been secretly weeping for many days and nights. His eldest son had been killed. 

Suddenly, a stranger came running to the tent. He fell at the feet of Yussouf. He said, “O Chief, save me. My enemies are coming after me. They want to kill me. I am starving. I can not run any more. All men call you good. Save me. O Chief, let me stay in your tent for one night." 

Yussouf asked the stranger to enter his tent. He said, “You are a stranger, but you are welcome. You can share with me my food and shelter. God has given them to me. God is our father. He has built this earth for us. The sky protects us all. God gives us food and shelter. I have never refused to grant any one a favor. Therefore come into my tent as my guest. Share with me my food. No one will harm you." 

The stranger entered. Yussouf embraced him as his honored guest. After taking food, the stranger lay down to sleep. 

The next day, the sun had not risen up. The desert was calm and still. Yussouf, gently, woke up the stranger. He gave the stranger a bag of gold. He said, “My friend, I hope you had a good sleep. The food must have given you some strength. Now you must escape from your enemies before the sun rises. I have kept my best horse ready for you. Fly before your enemies come." 

The stranger got up. He received the bag of gold from Yussouf. He looked at Yussouf for some moments. There was some struggle going on in his mind. Then suddenly his face became brighter. He fell at the feet of Yussouf. Then he said, “O good and noble Chief! You had been so kind to me. You gave me food and shelter. You had saved my life. But I had been so bad. I killed your son. I am Abraham. Now kill me! I am ready for punishment and revenge from you." 

The sheik was shocked. He was motionless. He was struggling between revenge and forgiveness in his mind. Should he take revenge? Should he return evil for evil? Or should he return good for evil? Finally he put his hand into his pocket. He drew out more gold. He gave it to Abraham. Then he said, “Here is gold three times more. Take this and go away. I will not kill you. You have been noble enough to confess. How can I be less noble to refuse to forgive you! The thought of revenge had been burning in my mind. Go away and take the thought of revenge from me." 

“I must give up the thought of revenge. Only then my son will sleep in peace. You have been my guest. I can not kill my guest. May God forgive both of us – me for keeping revenge in my thought and you for murdering my son!" said the Sheik and he went off to pray God. 

Hercules

This Short Story Hercules is quite interesting to all the people. Enjoy reading this story. 

Hercules was a strong and brave man. He lived in Greece. The King was jealous of Hercules. People might make Hercules the King. Therefore he wanted to get rid of Hercules. He set difficult tasks for Hercules to keep him away from the country so that he would not be a possible threat to him (the King). 

Once he asked Hercules to get three golden apples. Some trees were said to bear golden apples. These trees were said to be in a place called Hesperides. But no one knew the way to Hesperides. So the King thought of Hesperides. Hercules would be away for a longer period. 

Hercules set out on the journey. At first he met three maidens during the journey. Hercules asked them the way to Hesperides. They told him to ask the old man of the sea. But they also warned him, “Hold the old man of the sea tightly. Otherwise he will escape. No one else knows the way." 

Hercules saw the old man. He was sleeping on the shore. He was looking strange. He had long hair and a beard. Hercules walked to him without making any noise. Then he seized him very firmly. 



The old man of the sea opened his eyes. He was surprised. He changed himself into a stag. He tried to free himself from the grip of Hercules. But Hercules held him tight. Then the old man changed himself into a sea-bird and then to other animal forms. But he could not free himself from the clutches of Hercules, because Hercules was making his clutches tighter and tighter. Finally the old man said to Hercules, “Who are you? What do you want from me?" 

Hercules replied, “I am Hercules. Tell me the way to Hesperides." 

The old man said, “It is an island. Go along the sea-shore. You will meet a giant. He will show you the way to Hesperides." 

Hercules continued his journey. He met the giant. The giant was very huge and strong. He was sleeping on the shore. Hercules woke him up. The giant was angry. He struck Hercules with a club. Hercules charged at the giant. He lifted the giant and threw him down. But the giant got up immediately. He had become ten times stronger. Hercules threw him down again and again. But each time the giant rose up much stronger. Then Hercules lifted the giant high up in the air. But he did not throw him down. The giant slowly lost all his strength. He now pleaded with Hercules to put him down on the earth. Hercules asked him to tell the way to Hesperides. The giant asked Hercules to meet Atlas. He told him the way to the place where Atlas was. 

Hercules continued his journey. He, at last, met Atlas. 

“Why do you want the golden apples?" asked Atlas. 

“My King has ordered me to get him these three golden apples," said Hercules. 

“It is a long way from here to that place. Only I can go there. Hold this sky for me. I shall get them for you," said Atlas. 

Hercules agreed. He held the sky on his shoulders. Atlas walked away. He was back in a short time. He put down the three golden apples at the foot of Hercules. Hercules thanked Atlas. He requested Atlas to take back the sky from him. 

“Take back the sky!" said Atlas cunningly. “I have held it for a thousand years. I shall come back after another thousand years!" 

Hercules was astonished at what Atlas told him. But he did not express his astonishment. He recovered his senses and replied, “Oh! In that case, will you please hold the sky for a little while? I shall make a pad for my shoulders to support the sky. Then I shall take back the sky from you." Thus Hercules talked very quietly. 

Atlas agreed. Atlas took back the sky from Hercules. Hercules immediately collected the three golden apples. He bid Atlas goodbye with a mischievous smile on his face. The he walked away towards Greece leaving Atlas speechless and surprised. 

Hercules reached his homeland Greece after many days of travel. He gave the three golden apples to the King. The King was surprised to have got the golden apples from Hercules. He was happy. But he pretended not to have been satisfied. But he secretly, he was planning to send away Hercules away on another perilous adventure. 

Animal Stories

This page contains Animal Stories about their human and non-human animal relationships. Read these short stories about dogs, cats, Brer Rabbit, birds, fish, and other crazy critters. Some of them are sad, some are funny, and some are both. Others tell of humans turning to God because of the death of a non-human animal. But one thing that all of these stories have in common is that they will touch your heart and soul. 

The underlining principles would be truth, love, mutual respect, righteousness, rectitude, divinity, priority to societal unity, etc…All people, including the old people, would enjoy reading these stories. You are welcome to share these stories with your friends.These are Stories that grow ever more popular as time passes. And we add such Stories for you every fortnight. 

A vast treasure trove of Animal Tales is yours for the sampling. There are Tales about dog, tiger, lion, elephant, etc... - stories which have a moral and impart values. Laugh at the Humorous stories and enjoy the tales from Around the Globe and do not forget to delve into them. 

Great Moments in Physics

The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen. "Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer." One student replied: "You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal the height of the building." This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that the student was failed. The student appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent arbiter to decide the case. The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed correct, but did the problem it was decided to call the student in and allow him six minutes in which to provide a verbal answer which showed at least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles of physics. For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but couldn't make up his mind which to use. On being advised to hurry up the student replied as follows: "Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out from the formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer." "Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the barometer, then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow. Then you measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter it is a simple matter of proportional arithmetic to work out the height of the skyscraper." "But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum, first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring force T = 2 pi sqroot (l / g)." "Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be easier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in barometer lengths, then add them up." "If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course, you could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in millibars into feet to give the height of the building." "But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to knock on the janitor's door and say to him 'If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this skyscraper'." The student was Niels Bohr, the only person from Denmark to win the Nobel prize for Physics.

Geese Facts

Next fall when you see geese heading south for the winter... flying along in V formation...you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way: As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in V formation the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range, than if each bird flew on its own. People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another. When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone... and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are. When the head goose gets tired it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs...with people or with geese flying south. Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. What do we say when we honk from behind? Finally...and this is important...when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshots, and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group. If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that.

It Took Me Over 50 Years To Learn

Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings." There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them. You should not confuse your career with your life. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Never lick a steak knife. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.) Your friends love you anyway. Thought for the day: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.