ATLANTAAND MELANION..

Greece is the birthplace of Western sports. There were famous runners like pheidippides and Atlanta in Greece.

Atlanta was a princess. she was young and beautiful. She could run very fast. Many young men tried to win her. But Atlanta was proud. she was perhaps unkind. She said she would marry a man who could run faster than she. But if anyone failed, he could not try again. Many young men failed.

Then came Melanion. He was young as well as handsome. He loved Atlanta. He wanted to marry her. He prayed to Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. 'Help me, oh Aphrodite, goddess of beauty. Help me to win Atlanta, please,'he begged .

Aphrodite took pity on Melanion. 'I will  help you,' she said. 'Take these three apples.  They are from the garden of the gods. When Atlanta comes up to you in the race, drop an the apple. But use them carefully.'

So the great day came. Atlanta and Melanion  stood  on the track. They were both very beautiful. They were  both very beautiful. They were a lovely couple.

Atlanta smiled. she was sure she would win. She allowed Melanion to run ahead. She wanted to  get a good lead. Melanion run as fast he could. But Atlanta caught up easily. He dropped  an apple. Atlanta bent and picked it up. Melanion ran  faster.  Soon Atlanta caught up. Melanion dropped the second apple. She went and picked it up. She lost time. Melanion ran faster.  He was tired . The winning post seemed to be far away. He ran faster and faster.  Again he heard  Atlanta's foot steps. He rolled the last and the third apple. Atlanta was sure of her speed. she bent down and picked it up. Melanion just reached the winning post.  He had won by a fraction of a second. Atlanta was late. Melanion  had won. Atlanta kept her promise. She married  Melanion.

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PEEPING INTO THE FUTURE..

The old man sat at the mouth of the cave. In front of him sat a child. He was writing on the sand. He had been writing for sometime. A baby lay nearby There was a woman at a distance. She was cooking. She had been cooking with the burning rays of the sun.

It was hot all round. Here and there were shadows. Rocks and stones had cast these shadows. There were no trees or bushes or blades of grass to give shade.

The child stopped scribbling in the dust.  He looked  up at the old man."Tell me a story, grandfather. Tell me THAT story,"

he said 

"What story?" grandfather asked .

"The one about trees and .......green.

Remember?" 

"Ah! about trees. Yes , I remember ," said grandfather.

"Grandfather, why don't  I see trees?" the boy asked.

The old man was thoughtful. He had heard this question over and over again. But how could he explain?  Explain  something he did not know himself . And he had found no answer either. He had only heard about trees. They had heard tales about "trees". Those who had lived years ago only had known about them . They had seen "trees". but they had left none behind.

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The king..

Once upon a time there lived a king who had a clever juster in his court.. As the king was a lover of wit the jester became the Royal favourite.. The king was so fond of the jester that he allowed him a great deal of  liberty, taking all his pranks and rude remarks as great jokes. Taking advantage of his the jester  used to play tricks on the Minister in the court too. In fact he did not show any respect even for the highest officials and became a perfect nuisance in the court. But none dared to complain against him because the king was so fond of him.

One day, however, the jester went too far and in some way offended the king himself. "curse the the fool !" cried the king in great" fury. "how dare you behave so badly in our presence? For this lack of respect, O fool, you shall die."

The jester begged for mercy and asked the king to forgive him. but the king was so furious that he refused to alter the sentence."I can extend no other mercy to you," said the king, "except permitting you to choose what kind of death you wish to die. Decide at once, for the sentence must be carried out."

The clever jester at once turned this concession to his advantage and saved his life by saying, " I admire your kindness your majesty. I choose to die of old age."

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The unhappiest person in the world..

Once upon time a time there was a man who suffered from severe depression. He went to see the best doctors in the land for money was no problem , but nobody seemed able to help him to feel happy. Feeling desperate, he turned to a leading practitioner of complementary medicine as a  last resort..

After listening in detail to the patient's descriptions of his symptoms, the doctor suggested that the patient could find solace, and the end of his suffering, in love. The man however responded that this had never been a problem for him and  that he had often  loved and been loved.

The doctor then suggested  traveling and seeing other parts of the world. However the poor miserable soul responded that, without exaggeration, he had already been everywhere and  seen everything there was to see...

"Then how about taking up a new hobby? something  completely different to anything you've ever done before.  That should do the trick." But it turned  out that the patient  had tried that too, several times, and found no relief...

The doctor began to suspect that the man was an incurable liar. How could he possibly have done so much? But, being a good healer, the doctor had a final insight.

"Not to worry. I have the perfect solution for you. You must attend a performance of the greatest comedian of our day. He will amuse you to such an extent that you will be cured for ever . You must attend a performance of the Great Delmonte."

The man looked at the doctor with the saddest look you can possibly imagine. "if that's your  recommendation doctor, then I am truly a lost man and there is no cure for my condition. I am the Great Delmonate."

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Farmer and rich landowner...

Once upon a time there was a farmer, who became a rich landowner. However he was not happy and he wanted to buy more land. Then he heard about a nomad tribe in a  distant place, who was selling land cheap. so he sold all his land in the village, collected a large sum of money and went to see the chief of the nomads. the chief asked the farmer to meet him before sunrise the next day.

The following morning the farmer met the chief. The chief said,''Leave your bag of money,under this tree.Now,walk any distance from here and mark out any amount of land. Return to this spot before sunset.''

The greedy  man was very happy and started walking. One of the nomads followed the farmer  and started walking. one of the nomads followed  the farmer and  marked out a large area of land, so he started to run. The nomad  frequently reminded  him of the time limit. The farmer did not pay any attention . When he turned back in the evening. The sun was setting. So he was not able to reach the  starting point before sunset. Finally when he returned to his bag of money, he fell over  it and died.

The chief laughed and said," Dig a grave six feet long and bury this man in it."

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