Fables That Fix Lives: Ancient Code for Modern Problems

  A mouse always ran away at the sight of a cat. So the cat came up with a clever trick—it draped a string of prayer beads around its neck. The mouse was delighted. "Look!" it thought. "The cat has turned vegetarian. How wonderful!" To show their gratitude, a group of mice approached the cat. But the moment they got close, the cat pounced—killing and devouring several before the rest could escape. Safe at last, the surviving mice gasped, "The cat is even more dangerous now that it ‘prays’!" Moral: Not every change is genuine. Some predators just learn new disguises.  

  A man one day saw a limbless fox and wondered how it could keep itself alive, so he decided to watch it. Presently a lion came along with some meat, ate some of it and abandoned the rest. From this the fox made his meal. The watching man concluded on the basis of this incident that he should do the same, since Providence would surely accord him similar treatment. He waited a long time, but all that happened was that he got weaker and weaker. But eventually a voice said to him: 'Do not behave like a crippled fox! Be like a lion, so that you can obtain something and leave some for others!’

  A Man once stood up at a marketplace in the East and said, "I have been ordered by the king to collect all the well-born and well-bred and bring them before him, since he wishes to reward them." Everybody that heard him joined him, and he went towards the palace, surrounded by the whole town. Then he suddenly turned round and said, "The king has just sent me word that he means to help only those that have been ill-born and ill-bred to make for their misfortunes." The crowd lingered behind for a while, and then one after another join the man as ill-born and ill-bred to merit the king's gifts.  The man said, "The world goes as the wind blows!"

A farmer, having just stepped into his field to mend a gap in his fence, returned to find his child’s cradle overturned, the blankets torn and bloodstained, and his dog lying nearby—its muzzle also smeared with blood. Convinced the animal had killed his only child, the farmer, in a blind rage, struck the dog dead with his hatchet. But when he lifted the cradle, he discovered his infant unharmed beneath it, alongside the corpse of a massive serpent. The faithful dog had slain the snake to protect the child, a act of loyalty that deserved gratitude, not punishment. This tragic turn of events taught the farmer a bitter lesson: how perilous it is to surrender to the fury of sudden passion without first seeking the truth.  #HastyDecisions #RashJudgments #ImpulseRegret #BlindRage #MoralLesson

  A JACKDAW, having dressed himself in feathers that had fallen from some peacocks, strutted about in the company of those birds, trying to pass himself off as one of them. They soon found him out, however, and stripped him of his borrowed plumes so roughly—and pecked him so fiercely—that he was glad to rejoin his humble fellows. But they, too, wanted nothing to do with him and drove him from their company, telling him to remember: "Fine feathers do not make fine birds." Tags: #FalsePride #Vanity #Deception #Hubris #Arrogance

  Once upon a time, a powerful nation (the Donkey) arrived in a region where smaller, resilient states (the Tigers) had long thrived. The Donkey boasted of its unmatched strength—its vast armies, economic sanctions, and fearsome reputation. At first, the Tigers were terrified. They hid in the shadows, fearing the Donkey’s roar (or rather, its loudspeaker diplomacy). But as time passed, the Tigers observed: The Donkey’s threats were hollow —it imposed sanctions but lacked real economic power. Its military strikes were ineffective —costly, but without lasting victories. Its alliances were shaky —other nations saw through its bluster. Then came the moment of truth. The Donkey launched a war, expecting quick surrender. But when the Tigers retaliated—not with equal force, but with guerrilla tactics, cyber warfare, and economic resistance—the Donkey panicked. Its leaders, used to dictating terms, now scrambled for ceasefires. The Tigers...

  One morning, a young corporate employee sat nervously in their manager's glass-walled office. "Your presentation skills need work," the manager chided, scrolling through their phone. "You should speak with confidence, structure your arguments clearly, and engage your audience." The employee hesitated, then replied: "Sir, would you mind demonstrating first? I'd love to learn from your example." The manager froze—aware he routinely read speeches from slides, avoided tough questions, and spent meetings checking emails. Modern Moral : Those who demand excellence must first embody it. Leadership isn't taught—it's shown.

  Long ago in the mountains of Qian, where no donkey had ever been seen, a merchant brought one from distant lands. The people, unsure of its purpose, left it grazing at the forest’s edge. A mighty tiger, encountering this strange beast for the first time, froze in fear. The donkey’s towering frame and thunderous bray sent the tiger fleeing—convinced it faced a supernatural threat. But with time, the tiger grew bold. It observed the donkey’s hollow bravado: the kicks that missed, the aimless braying, the clumsy defiance. Finally, the tiger pounced, tearing through the donkey’s throat. What once seemed formidable proved feeble—all bluster, no bite. The Modern Parallel: Superpowers Exposed Like the donkey, so-called "superpowers" today rely on: ·        Theatrics over strength (empty threats, performative sanctions) ·        Legacy fear (reputation from past wars, not current competence) ·  ...

  A fox once escaped a trap—but at a cost. His tail remained snared, leaving him tailless and ashamed. Knowing his fellow foxes would mock his condition, he devised a plan: If he couldn’t regain his tail, he’d convince the others to lose theirs. At the next gathering, he addressed the assembly with practiced conviction: "Friends, tails are useless burdens! They catch in brambles, slow our sprint, and attract hunters’ arrows. I’ve never felt freer than since losing mine!" The foxes murmured, some swayed by his passion. Then a sly elder rose, his own lush tail sweeping the ground. "How persuasive," he smirked. "But tell me—had you not lost your tail, would this ‘wisdom’ ever occur to you? Until misfortune befalls me, I’ll keep my tail—and my skepticism." The tailless fox slunk away, exposed.

In ancient times, Aesop’s master, a merchant, prepared for a long journey and divided the luggage among his servants. When given the choice, Aesop—the wisest of them all—selected the largest basket: the one filled with bread. The others laughed, thinking him foolish for taking the heaviest burden. But Aesop knew something they didn’t. At mealtime, he was asked to distribute the bread—first half at lunch, the rest at supper. By evening, his basket was empty, while the others groaned under their unchanged loads, which only seemed to grow heavier with each mile. In the end, Aesop walked freely, carrying nothing but the light wicker frame, while his companions struggled, finally understanding his foresight. This ancient fable mirrors a critical truth in today’s world: those who think ahead lighten their burdens, while those who seek only immediate ease often find themselves weighed down later. 

The rapid advancement of AI has transformed every aspect of modern life, including education, yet academic institutions continue to grapple with its implications. While students naturally embrace these powerful tools to enhance their learning, many professors and universities remain reluctant to fully acknowledge this reality. This resistance creates a peculiar contradiction - educators who spend years conducting traditional research often prohibit students from using AI, even as they themselves increasingly rely on these same tools for preparing lectures, creating assignments, and even aiding their own research. At the heart of this tension lies a profound generational divide. Today's students are digital natives who have grown up with smartphones, instant information access, and AI-powered assistants as integral parts of their daily lives. Their cognitive processes and problem-solving approaches are fundamentally shaped by this technological environment. In contrast, most educa...

  Once a hunter in ‘Linjiang’ caught a young ‘ David ’s deer. It was so lovely that the hunter decided to take it home to raise. As soon as he entered his house, his dogs ran over and stared at the little deer, mouths watering. The man shouted at them to go away. From then on, he kept showing the dogs the David’s deer and warned them not to hurt it. Finally, he let the dogs play with the deer.   To his delight, they lived peacefully. The little David’s deer grew up to forget its identity.   It took the dogs as its friends and played all kinds of games with them, which brought them even closer.   The dogs, however, kept on good terms with the deer only for the sake of their master. They often dreamed of tasting the David’s deer, which made their mouths water. Three years passed and the young David’s deer had grown up. One day it happened to go out and found many dogs from other households playing on the road. It joined in the fun, but was encircled and eaten, lea...

  One day, a hungry wolf spotted a lamb drinking peacefully from a stream. Determined to devour the lamb, the wolf sought to justify his cruelty with false accusations. Wolf (fiercely): "How dare you muddy the water I’m about to drink?" Lamb (meekly): "Forgive me, sir, but that’s impossible. The water flows from you to me—how could I disturb it upstream?" Wolf (growling): "Enough excuses! A year ago, you slandered me behind my back!" Lamb (gently): "But sir, I wasn’t even born then." Wolf (snarling): "Then it was your brother!" Lamb (innocently): "I have no brothers." Wolf (with finality): "It was one of your kind—no more lies!" With that, the wolf pounced, dragged the lamb into the woods, and devoured him. Moral of the Story: When a tyrant seeks a pretext for cruelty, no logic or innocence can stop him. Might often overrules right. #MightVsRight #PowerAndOppression #FalsePretexts #Injustice #Tyranny...

  The renowned Greek orator 'Demades ' once addressed an assembly in Athens on a matter of great importance yet struggled to hold his audience’s attention. The crowd whispered among themselves, distracted by children playing nearby, and showed no interest in his speech. Pausing briefly, ' Demades ' began anew: "One day, the goddess Ceres journeyed with a Swallow and an Eel." The crowd fell silent, every ear now keen to hear his words. "When they reached a river," he continued, "the Eel swam across, and the Swallow flew over." Having captured their attention, Demades returned to his original speech. But the people erupted: "What of Ceres? Tell us—what did the goddess do?" Demades replied, "She was furious—just as she is now—that people open their ears to fables but close them to truth and wisdom."

  A Razor once said to a sword, "How is it that men always speak of you with respect, while they hardly make any mention of me?" "Because," said the sword, "you skim over the surface, while I go deeper." "Just so," said the razor, "and thereby do them more harm than ever I can." "You are quite right, "said the strop, who was of course an ally of the razor; "men always call those great that do them the largest amount of harm."

Once, in the state of ‘Wu’, there was a man who had raised an ape in a cage. Ten years had passed when, one day, he felt so sorry for his ape, having spent ten long years in a small cage, that he set it free. To his surprise this ape came back two days later.  He asked the ape, “Did I not send you far enough?” Then he and his family carried the ape into a faraway valley and released it, but the ape, after ten years of caged life, had forgot its original habits and customs. Hungry, it didn’t know where to look for food and could only cry. Finally, it died of hunger in the deep valley.  #WorkplacePsychology #CorporateCaptivity #EmployeeAutonomy #LearnedHelplessness #LeadershipFail #AncientWisdom

  A wealthy man in the East had no knowledge of music; yet he pretended to know a great deal about it. So, whenever a famous singer came to him, he would tie one end of a string to his coat-tail, and give the other end to his wife, who understood music well, and who generally sat behind a screen, according to the custom of ladies in the East. The understanding was whenever there was anything in the singing that was especially praiseworthy, the wife should pull, that the man might nod his approbation of it. Once a great singer was displaying his skill, and suddenly the strong snapped. The man cried, "Wait a bit, good singer; the string hath snapped!" The whole audience was amazed, and in the end, knowing what he really meant, exclaimed, "A Parrot and a Fool can do nothing without prompting!"

  Once upon a time there was a man named ' Ji Hou ' who loved monkeys and had them trained by professional han­dlers. One trainer, named ‘Tuo Shi’, dressed the monkeys up like human beings.  He put on tall hats, colorful clothing and embroidered shoes and taught them to kowtow, stand erect, sit and kneel just like human beings. When ‘Tuo Shi’ was satisfied with their behavior, he took them to ‘Ji Hou’, who was very glad to see them and invited them to drink spirits.  The drink excited them so much that they jumped and somersaulted, tore hats and clothing shreds, threw off their shoes, and showed their true selves.

A Swallow, observing a Husbandman employed in sowing hemp, called the little Birds together and informed them of what the farmer was about. He told them that hemp was the material from which the nets, so fatal to the feathered race, were composed; and advised them to join unanimously in picking it up in order to prevent the consequences. The Birds, either disbelieving his information or neglecting his advice, gave themselves no trouble about the matter. In a little time, the hemp appeared above the ground, when the friendly Swallow again addressed himself to them, and told them it was not yet too late, provided they would immediately set about the work, before the seeds had taken too deep root. But as they still rejected his advice, he forsook their society, repaired for safety to towns and cities, there built his habitation and kept his residence. A Swallow, observing a Husbandman employed in sowing hemp, called the little Birds together and informed them of what the farmer was abou...

  A tiger was searching the forest for animals to eat. One day it seized a fox. The fox told the tiger, “You should not eat me, because I have been sent to this forest by God to be the leader of all the animals. If you should dare defy God by eating, disaster will befall you at once.  If you don’t believe me, let’s give it a try. I’ll walk in front, and you follow me. You will see that all the animals run at sight of me.” Thinking the fox quite   reasonable, the tiger followed   it into the forest. All the animals fled at sight of them.   The tiger didn’t realize that it was what had scared them away.

One day, a man accidentally caught two young wolves. Fluffy and adorable, they were so endearing that he decided to raise them alongside his dogs. To his pleasant surprise, the wolves and dogs lived together peacefully. As time passed, the wolves grew up but remained docile, and the man almost forgot they were wild creatures. One afternoon, while napping in his hall, the man was startled awake by his dogs’ furious barking. Seeing nothing unusual, he dismissed it and tried to sleep again. Just as he began to drift off, the dogs barked violently once more. This time, he pretended to stay asleep, watching carefully. To his horror, he saw the two wolves creeping toward him, jaws open—ready to sink their teeth into his throat. His loyal dogs lunged forward, barking fiercely to protect him. Realizing the wolves’ treachery, the man swiftly killed the ungrateful beasts and skinned them as a grim reminder of nature’s unyielding instincts. #Betrayal #Wild vs. Tamed #Instinct vs. Trust # ...

  A Fox fell into a well and was holding hard to some roots at the side of it, just above the water. A wolf who was passing by saw him, and said, "Hollow, Reynard, after all you have fallen into a well!" "But not without a purpose, and not without the means of getting out of it," said the fox. "What do you mean?" said the wolf. "Why, said the fox, "there is a drought all over the country now and the water in this well is the only means of appeasing the thirst of the thousands that live in this neighborhood. They held a meeting and requested me to keep the water from going down lower; so, I am holding it up for the public good." "What will be your reward?" said the wolf. "They will give me a pension and save me the trouble of going about every day in quest of food, not to speak of innumerable other privileges that will be granted me. Further, I am not to stay here all day. I have asked a kinsman of mine, to whom I have communic...

Someone said to Bahaudin Naqshband:  'It must have caused you pain to dismiss a certain student.'  He said:  'The best of all ways to test and help a disciple, if it is possible, may be to dismiss him. If he then turns against you, he has a chance of observing his own shallowness and the defects which led to the dismissal. If he forgives you, he has an opportunity of seeing whether in that there is any sanctimoniousness. If he regains his balance, he will be able to benefit this matter of our (the Teaching) and especially to benefit himself.'

Late one evening, a butcher was driving home after closing up his shop. In the back of his pickup truck sat the last unsold cut of prime pork—leftover from the day’s sales. As he slowed at a red light, a lone wolf lurking near the roadside caught the scent. Salivating, the predator locked onto the meat and began trailing the truck at a distance. Glancing in his rearview mirror, the butcher noticed the wolf keeping pace, its eyes gleaming under the streetlights. Uneasy, he rolled down his window and brandished his cleaver, shouting, “Back off!” The wolf hesitated but didn’t flee. The butcher’s grip tightened on the wheel. This isn’t safe. Then, an idea struck him. All it wants is the meat. If I leave it somewhere out of reach, maybe it’ll give up. Spotting a tall metal fence by an abandoned lot, he pulled over, hooked the pork onto one of the spikes, and drove off, relieved to see the wolf sniffing the air, distracted. The next morning, curiosity nagged at him. ...

In a sleek high-rise in the heart of the city, there lived a man named Daniel. He was successful by all outward measures—a well-paying job, a luxury apartment, and a busy social calendar. But beneath the surface, he carried invisible wounds: stress that gnawed at him, insecurities that whispered in his ear, and a loneliness that never quite went away. Whenever he felt the sting of failure—a missed promotion, a strained friendship, a lingering regret—he did what many do: he distracted himself. He worked longer hours, scrolled endlessly through his phone, drank a little more than he should. At first, these small numbing habits helped. But the pain never really went away; it just festered. So he scratched at it harder. He took on more projects, stayed later at the office, filled his calendar until there was no room left to breathe. The more he ignored the real problem, the worse it became. His health suffered. His relationships frayed. Still, he refused to stop—because stopping meant ...

Once a certain famous Fakir was claiming in the village that he could teach an illiterate person to read by a lightning technique. 'Nasrudin' stepped out of the crowd: 'Very well, teach me-now.' The Fakir touched the Mulla's forehead and said: 'Now go home immediately and read a book.' Half an hour later 'Nasrudin' was back in the marketplace, clutching a book. The Fakir had gone on his way. 'Yes, I can read-but that is not the point. Where is that charlatan?' 'How can he be a charlatan if he has caused you to read without learning?' 'Because this book, which is authoritative, says: "All Fakirs are frauds."

  ‘Haidar’ heard a disciple say: ‘I am glad that I did not buy such-and-such a book, for now I have arrived at Source of    of its knowledge I have   saved myself pain and needless expense.’ After a year Haidar handed him a book, saying: ‘You have served me for twelve months. The value of your labor has been a hundred   dirhams.   That is the cost of this book. ‘You would not have paid a hundred silver pieces for such an inanimate object as a book, and few people would do so. But you have been made to pay for it, by me, and here it is. ‘A camel is dear at a penny if you do not need a camel. ‘A    single word is cheap at a  thousand gold  pieces, if it   is  essential to you. ‘If you wish to return  to the Source  of  Being, you will always have to take the first step, even though you may be demanding to be allowed to take the hundredth step.’

  A tiger had been prowling about in the mountain forest for quite some time without finding anything to eat. It grew so Hungary that it went down the mountain to the fields. After a long time suddenly saw a lump of meat on the grassland at a distance. Overjoyed, it rushed at it, mouth wide open. But the meat turned out to be a hedgehog lying on its back, enjoying the sunshine. Seeing the tiger rushing at it, the hedgehog huddled itself up, so its sharp spines pierced the tiger's mouth. The tiger was so frightened it ran away. The faster it ran, the deeper the spines pierced. When it got back to the mountain, it was both hungry and tired. It then jumped and leaped several times to cast off the hedgehog, but it could not. Out of breath, it lay down to rest and finally fell into a daze. The hedgehog then stretched itself and ran away. The tiger awoke to find the hedgehog gone. Happily, it went on to look for food on the mountain. When it saw a thorny oak shell under an oak tree it fo...

  "These exquisite verses from Hakim Jami's 'Baharistan ' carry a rare sweetness that nourishes the heart and brings profound contentment to life. Savor this beautiful passage and let its wisdom illuminate your day." The rose is gone from the garden, what can I do with the thorns and leaves? The Shah is not in the city, what shall I do with his court? The attraction are the cage: beauty and goodness the parrot. When the parrot has flown, what can I do with the cage?  

The Master Bahaudin was sitting one evening after dinner, surrounded by a large number of newcomers, old and young, all eager to learn.  A silence fell, and the Master asked for a question. Someone said: "What is the greatest difficulty in the learning and the teaching of the Way?" The Master answered: "People go by superficialities. They are attracted by preaching, by rumors and reports, and by that which excited them-like bees to the scent of flowers." The man asked: "But how else are people to approach wisdom, or bees, flowers?" The Master answered: "The human approaches wisdom through report and noise, preaching and reading excitement. After he has approached it, however, he stays near it to demand more of the same: not whatever it can give, which is what it is therefore. "Bees approach flowers by scent, but they do not, once arrived at the proximity of the bloom, demand merely more and more scent. They adjust to the nectar, which they have t...

  Four ancient owls—Huma the Observer, Zara the Listener, Feroz the Questioner, and Bakht the Silent—once embarked on a great journey to understand why scandal seems to follow power like an unshakable shadow. Each owl chose a different path to uncover this truth. Huma flew to glittering palaces where kings and queens held court. Zara perched in bustling marketplaces where merchants haggled and traded. Feroz soared above great universities where scholars debated ideas. And Bakht, true to his nature, settled silently among humble villages where farmers worked the land. After many seasons of watching and listening, the owls returned to share what they had learned. Huma spoke first, his golden eyes gleaming with insight. "Where crowns and thrones shine brightest, whispers thrive in dark corners," he said. "A king's gardener knows more secrets than his royal spies. But here is the deeper truth—scandal clings not to power itself, but to the fear of losing it." His...