Midas and the Golden Touch
This ancient story tells that in Greece there was a king named Midas, who was a greedy and angry man. He loved gold more than anything in life. One time, he did a good deed for someone, and an angel appeared before him, saying he would give him whatever he wished if he did a good deed. Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold the moment he touched it. God granted his wish. Midas was very happy and started touching everything randomly, and everything he touched turned to gold.
After some time, he got hungry, but when he touched his food, it turned to gold, so he couldn’t eat it. Midas was starving and feared he would never be able to eat. When his daughter saw him distressed, she put her arms around him to comfort him, and she too turned to gold. Midas was very afraid as his daughter had turned into a golden statue. He felt regret for asking for the golden touch and realized that he had been greedy and that gold wasn’t the most precious thing in life. He cried and begged God to cancel his golden touch. God had mercy on him and told him to go down and bathe in a river beside his palace, then fill a jar with water from the river and sprinkle it on everything he wanted to change back. Midas followed the instructions and brought his daughter back to life. He was very happy for the return of his beloved daughter and stopped his greed from that moment on.
The Emperor’s New Clothes
This proud and narcissistic emperor cares only about appearing in wonderful and elegant clothes. He hires two tailors and promises them a reward if they sew the best possible suit for anyone to wear. The tailors were scammers and told the king that they used special fabric invisible to anyone foolish or unfit to wear it. In reality, the tailors deceived the king by only pretending to sew the clothes. No one, including the emperor or his ministers, could see the fabric - there were no clothes at all. No one would admit they couldn’t see it, for fear of being called foolish or unfit for their position.
The tailors said they had finished tailoring the suit and posed images of the emperor. The emperor then announced before his subjects that he would show them the new suit. The city’s residents agreed to watch the suit, as they didn’t want to admit the king wasn’t wearing any clothes or risk being called foolish. When the emperor began the procession, a child watching the procession shouted that the emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes. The child also didn’t understand why the procession continued. Upon hearing the child, others in the crowd also shouted that the emperor was naked. The emperor became extremely embarrassed and realized that his pride and foolishness had put him in a ridiculous situation.
The Ant and the Grasshopper
This is one of the ancient legends about work and preparation for the future. The story was about a grasshopper who sang during the summer to enjoy his time. On the contrary, his neighbors from the ant colony worked without stopping throughout the summer to store food for the coming winter. The grasshopper always laughed at the ants and told them they should just enjoy the summer. The ants told the grasshopper that he needed to store food for winter, otherwise he would die of hunger when everything froze from the cold.
When winter came, the ants were in their burrows, resting and living on the food they had stored. The grasshopper came to the ants, starving and freezing, and begged the ants to give him some food, telling them he had learned his thinking was wrong. The ants shared their food with him and made him prepare to work hard in the coming summer to find food and store it.
The Ugly Duckling
The story begins on a farm where a duck sat on some eggs until they hatched. The eggs hatched one after another, and soon there were six yellow-feathered ducklings on the farm, chirping excitedly. The last egg took longer to hatch, and then a duckling emerged, but it looked strange with gray feathers. Everyone said the gray duckling was ugly, including its mother. The duckling decided to escape, depressed, and lived alone in a swamp until winter arrived. The duckling was starving and freezing in winter. A farmer took pity on her and decided to give her food and shelter in his home. But the duckling became afraid of the farmer’s mischievous children and fled to a cave beside a frozen lake.
With the arrival of spring, there was a flock of beautiful swans living on the lake. The duckling was near these swans but was alone and afraid to approach them, expecting to be rejected. But to her surprise, the swans welcomed her. When she looked at her reflection in the water, she saw that she was no longer an ugly duckling but a beautiful swan. The swan joined this flock and lived with her new family.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
This story tells that on a morning, which was a Sunday, a caterpillar emerged from an egg. The caterpillar had a red face and was placed on a leaf. The caterpillar began searching for food. She started eating tree leaves but remained very hungry. Then she began eating various foods in large quantities over a short period of time. One day she ate one whole apple. The next day she ate a pear. The next day she ate three plums. The next day she ate four strawberries. On the fifth day, she ate three oranges.
After that, on Saturday, the caterpillar prepared a great feast with many items, including chocolate cake, ice cream cone, a piece of pickle, a piece of Swiss cheese, a piece of salami, a lollipop, a piece of cherry pie, some sausage, cupcakes, and watermelon. Then the caterpillar began feeling strong stomach pain from eating large amounts of food. The caterpillar felt better on Sunday after returning to her light diet of a large green leaf. She then spun a cocoon around herself and stayed in it for two weeks. After two weeks, the caterpillar emerged from the cocoon as a beautiful butterfly with colorful wings. When the butterfly ate healthy and natural food, she grew properly and became a beautiful butterfly that flew magically.
The Dissatisfied Cat
There was a small cat with beautiful white fur, but this cat was not satisfied with herself and wished she were any other animal or even any other creature besides a cat. The cat watched other creatures all the time and dreamed of being in their place. One day, she saw a group of ducks swimming in the water. She tried to imitate them but almost drowned. Then she saw a group of birds flying high in the sky. She tried to imitate them but found she didn’t know how to fly.
One day, the cat found fruit peels thrown on the ground. She thought of wearing them to be like fruit. She actually wore the fruit peels, then slept. She suddenly woke up to a strong shaking of her body. It was a sheep trying to eat the fruit on the ground. The cat got scared and quickly ran away from the sheep. She thanked God that she was created as a cat who could escape if any other creature tried to harm her.