Not so long ago, in a lush green forest there lived a lion. He was the king of the jungle. He lived in a big tree house which was extremely comfortable and beautiful. He had a sweat tooth and loved to eat candies. He used to always keep his candy jar with him. Every night before going to sleep he would count the number of candies in it and every morning the first thing he would do first thing after getting up was to count the candies.

One morning the Lion king woke up and as usual he reached for his favorite candy jar, opened its lid and started to count the candies 1,2,3,4,5,6,,7,8,9,10,11,and 12. His face turned all red and he began to roar in anger what is this two cadies were missing. “Who could dare to do this?” he thought. He called for the Minister and narrated the entire incident to him. He then instructed the Minister to catch the culprit in two days time else the Minister will have to leave his job. The Minister is now worried. How can he find out the one who had stolen the King’s candies.

In the evening when the Minister was walking back home, lost in deep thoughts he is met by the Wise Owl. The Minister narrates his problem to the owl. After listening to the problem the Owl assures his friend that he would help his friend and that he should stop worrying and go back home as nothing had happened. The owl promises that the problem will be solved by the next morning

That night the owl does not perch on the branch of the tree that he lived upon. Instead he waited for the night to fall so that all could go to sleep and then he very quietly sneaked into King Lion’s bedroom and hid behind the curtain and started to wait for the candy thief.

After a long wait, when everyone was fast asleep the owl sees a mouse climbing up the table on which the jar was kept. The mouse very quietly opened the lid of the jar and took two candies out. He then carefully closed the lid and went back without making any noise. The owl too followed the mouse to be sure as to where he lived.

Next morning when the Owl meets the Minister he gives him the news of having found out the culprit. The Minister reaches the King’s palace along with the Owl and tell the king about the mouse being the one who took the candies away. The Lion King orders the Minister to get the mouse to his court for being punishment. The Minister along with the three soldiers  reached the tree where the mouse lived. The soldiers  ordered the mouse to accompany them to King Lion’s palace. The king is extremely angry. He announces for the mouse to be sent to the prison for the rest of his life. The news of the mouse being imprisoned reaches the snake, who happens to be his best friend. He immediately rushes to the king’s palace and pleads pardon for his friend. He tells him how the mouse loved to eat sweats and that this would be a bit too harsh a punishment for him. The Lion king who has now calmed down a bit realizes that life imprisonment will be a bit too much of a punishment for stealing a candy. The snake also makes the king realize how he should have shared his candies with someone else who likes them but cannot have them because he does not know where to buy them from. The Lion King realizes that he should have shared his candies with others as well. He thanked the snake for making him realize his mistake and releases the mouse. He tells the mouse that the snake is indeed his true friend and how he made him realize his duty to share with others and managed to save the mouse from being imprisoned. He told the mouse that the snake was both helpful and a true friend. The mouse hugs the snake and thanked him and they both happily walk back home.

  • What did they like in the story?
  • Who would they like to be in the story and why
  • What do they think the story was about?
  • Which is the their favorite character in the story?
  • Is it fine to take help from others?
  • Should we help friends?
  • Why Should we help strangers?
  • Who else can we help?
  • What will happen if people stop helping each other?
  • Should we always ask for help or should we first try to do things ourselves? 

Interesting Ideas

  • You can narrate the story with the help of puppets or soft toys
  • In between you can ask them to close their eyes and image
  • You can ask them to describe the candies their shape, size, flavor
  • Modulate your voice for different characters in the story

The story has been authored by Simi Srivastava. Simi is the founder of Kathashala and she has put together her knowledge, skills and experience in setting up Kathashala, a story telling institute for adults. What makes the institute unique is its curriculum which is based on performing arts including the folk and traditional forms of storytelling. For updates on Kathashala, pl visit their Facebook Page