Kenning Stories

One day, carpenter Ramu was sawing a long log into two. A monkey was watching his work from a tree nearby. Ramu sawed the log halfway through.  Then he said to himself, "I have to stop now as I am hungry. I 'll go home for lunch." He stopped sawing and hammered a wedge into the middle of the log to keep the two halves apart. As soon as Ramu left, the monkey got down from the tree and surveyed the work done by Ramu. He went around the log observing everything. Then he climbed up and sat on the log, with his legs on either side. He slowly tried to pull out the wedge. In the beginning the wedge did not move. As the monkey kept on trying, the wedge began to move.  After sometime it suddenly came out. While the monkey was trying to pull out the wedge, its tail lay hanging between the two halves of the log. When the wedge came out, the two halves of the log came together. The monkey's tail got caught in the slit. He cried out in pain, ...

Once upon a time, there lived a lion in a forest. As he had not eaten for a few days, the lion was very hungry. The lion searched everywhere for food but he could not find anything to eat. When his tired legs could not carry him any further, he decided to rest a while. A little later, when he looked up, he saw that he was at the mouth of a cave. Very carefully, the lion peeped in. The cave was empty. "Aha" he thought, "this cave must be the home of some animal. It is such a good shelter  against the dangers of the night! If I hide here, I can eat whatever creatures come here tonight!" The lion was very pleased with his plan. He hid in the cave and waited. The cave happened to be the home of a clever Jackal. The Jackal spent his days wandering about the forest in search of food. When the Jackal got home that evening, something told him that all was not right. It was far too silent and calm. Where were the birds and insect tonight? They were usually so noi...