Retold from: The Panchatantra

The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian collection of wise animal fables, one of the most widely read books in the world, translated into dozens of languages.

The name means “Five Books”. The collection was compiled in Sanskrit more than 1,500 years ago, and the sage Vishnusharma is traditionally considered its author. According to the frame story, he undertook to teach three dull-witted princes wisdom in half a year, and taught them through fables in which animals scheme, make friends and make mistakes just like people.

In the 6th century the Panchatantra was translated into Middle Persian, then into Arabic as “Kalila and Dimna”, and its stories spread across the Middle East and Europe. The American Sanskritist Arthur W. Ryder translated the collection into English in 1925.

The site has a tale from the fourth book of the Panchatantra, “The Monkey and the Crocodile”, about how cleverness saves you from trouble.