Hansel and Gretel A poor woodcutter and his wife had two children named Hansel and Gretel. Their mother died when they were young. Hansel and Gretel were very sad. Soon their father remarried but their stepmother was very cruel. One day, she took the children deep into the forest and left them there. Clever Hansel had some breadcrumbs in his pocket and had dropped them on the way so that they could find their way back home. Alas! The birds ate all the crumbs and they couldn’t find the path that led back home. Hansel and Gretel went deeper and deeper into the forest. They were hungry and tired. Finally, after walking for a long time, they saw a cottage made of chocolate, candies, and cake. “Look, Hansel! A chocolate brick!” shouted Gretel in delight and both ate it hungrily. Now, a wicked witch lived there. When she saw Hansel and Gretel, she wanted to eat them. She grabbed the chil­dren and locked them in a cage. The witch decided to make a soup out of Hansel and eat him first. She began boiling a huge pot of water for the soup. Just then, Gretel crept out of her cage. She gave the wicked witch a mighty push from behind and the witch fell into the boiling water. She howled in pain and died instantly. Hansel and Gretel found treasure lying around the cottage. They carried it home with them. Their stepmother had died and their father wel­comed them back with tears of joy. They never went hungry again! HANUMAN authored by 16th-century poet Tulsidas in the Awadhi language At the time of the Ramayana, Hanuman is sent as an advance spy to Lanka, the capital of the mighty demon Ravana's empire. Ravana has provoked Lord Rama by carrying away his beloved wife Sita in order to start a war. During the epic times that follow, Hanuman brings hope and secret messages to the captive Sita, leads Rama's monkey army in the Battle of Lanka and single-handedly kills many demons including Lankini, champion of the demons. During this time Hanuman is captured by the enemy, only to outwit them with cunning and the use of his powers. He returns to find Lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana themselves captured by the enemy and about to be sacrificed to the goddess Kali by the sorcerer Mahiravana. In a tale of great daring, Hanuman outsmarts the evil lord into becoming the sacrifice himself, thereby earning the eternal respect of Kali. She appoints Hanuman as her doorkeeper and today many of her temples are seen to have a monkey guarding their doorways. After the defeat of Ravana, Rama and Sita are crowned King and Queen of Ayodhya. Hanuman is offered a reward for his bravery and asks only to continue in service to him and to live for as long as men speak of Rama's deeds. He remains as Rama's favourite general to this day. Because of his bravery, perseverance, strength and devoted service, Hanuman is regarded as a perfect symbol of selflessness and loyalty. Worship of Hanuman helps the individual to counter the bad karma borne out of selfish action, and grants the believer fortitude and strength in his or her own trials during the journey of life. Hanuman is also invoked in fights against sorcery and protective amulets depicting him are extremely popular among his devotees. Andare and Ministers I t has been said that during the reign of Sinhala Kings, there was a court jester called Andare who was employed to amuse the King, and his Ministers. There is no historical record about employment of court jesters but folklore has many stories about Andare and the pranks he played on the King , his Ministers and even the Queen. He was probably there to amuse the King to take away the tension from the day to day work of the King and his Minsters. One Andare story as far as I can remember is the one where the Ministers wanted to play a prank on Andare, and how it rebounded on them. The King and the Ministers had a day in the week when they go to the Royal Pond to take a bath. Andare always accompanied them on such outings. Each of the Ministers, unknown to Andare, took an egg along with him. At the pond when they were bathing one Minister asked who can dive into the pond and bring an egg. All the Ministers shouted back that they can. Then at a given signal all of them dived into the pond. Andare was surprised, but having no alternative, he too dived into the pond. After a while the ministers came up each holding an egg in his hand. Andare too came up, but had no egg with him. Andare guessing what happened did not want to accept defeat. Not short of wit, Andare cried “ Cock-a –doodle doo “, and shouted you are all hens and I am the only cock. The King saw how Andare turned tables on the on the Ministers and had a hearty laugh. Sinbad the Sailor First Voyage Sinbad is the main character in the story. He had inherited considerable wealth from his parents. Before, he always spent his money to buy all he wants. When he got older and becomes poorer, he realized that he should manage his riches as he manage his time .Because of it, he sold all his household goods and joined to the company of merchants who traded by sea. Then the first voyage came to start. One day, they sailed towards the East Indies in Persia and they landed on various islands and they landed to a small island like a green meadow. They stayed on the island and they lighted fire. Suddenly, the island shook and they realized that the island was a back of a sleeping whale. Some of the sailors escaped but Sinbad was so unfortunate. Sinbad was left at the mercy of the waves. He floated up and down and great was the morning light showed and he drifted against an island. He ate some edible herbs and a grazing horse appeared on the island. A man appeared too and asked Sinbad how he came upon on the island. Sinbad told his adventure and the man said that he was one of the grooms of Mihrage, the King of the island and each year they came to feed their master's horses in the plain. After that, they went to King Mihrage. King Mihrage amazed to the adventure of Sinbad. They got close to each other and one day, there was a ship landed on the island, he saw his own name marked upon some of packages. He talked to the captain and Sinbad said that he was alive. At first, the captain thought that Sinbad was making a story and lying but after all Sinbad told the whole story the captain was shocked and realized that he was the real Sinbad. Sinbad thanked the King Mihrage and went to his home town in Baghdad. .