Tamil

All summer the ant gathers grain while the grasshopper sings and dances. When the rainy season comes, the hungry grasshopper visits the ant, who kindly shares her food. The grasshopper promises to work ahead next year.

Ramu, a poor woodcutter, drops his only axe into a river. A river spirit offers him a golden axe and then a silver one, but he honestly refuses both. When she shows his plain iron axe, he claims it, and she rewards his honesty with all three.

Gopu the baby elephant is teased for his big ears and slow walk. When a flood traps baby monkeys, rabbits and deer on a small island, only Gopu dares to wade through the current and carries them all to safety. No one teases him again.

A hungry dog finds a bone and, crossing a bridge, sees his own reflection holding another bone. Greedy for both, he barks and drops his bone into the river. He goes home hungry, having learned that greed leads to loss.

Peelu, a baby owl, is afraid of the dark. His father takes him on a night flight to hear crickets and frogs, smell jasmine and see the stars. Finding no monsters, Peelu flies a little on his own and discovers the night is full of wonders.

On the first day of the Tamil month Thai, six-year-old Selvi helps her grandmother cook pongal in a new clay pot. Grandma explains the harvest festival thanks the sun, the cattle and the farmers. Everyone shouts “Pongalo Pongal!” as the milk boils over, and the next day Selvi thanks her cow with sugarcane.

Nila’s grandfather gives her a seed. She’s frustrated when nothing appears, but he explains seeds need water, sun and time. She cares for it every day until it grows into a sunflower taller than her. Good things take time.

A monkey befriends a crocodile and shares sweet fruit with him. The crocodile’s wife wants the monkey’s heart, so the crocodile tricks him into a ride. Mid-river, the clever monkey says he left his heart in the tree, gets taken back to shore, and escapes. A Panchatantra classic.

Thulasi, a raindrop, falls from a cloud onto a mountain, joins a stream and a river that waters rice fields, reaches the sea, and rises again as vapor into a cloud. A simple introduction to the water cycle.

A proud peacock mocks a crane’s plain feathers. The crane spreads its wings and soars above the clouds, while the peacock can only reach a low branch. The crane explains that everyone has a special gift, and the peacock learns humility.