FREE EBOOK - ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 300 In this 300th issue of the Baba Indaba’s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the French Fairy Tale – “THE RIDICULOUS WISHES”. ONCE upon a time, long, long ago and far, far away there lived a poor woodcutter who life very hard. Indeed, it was his lot to toil for little guerdon, and although he was young and happily married there were moments when he wished himself dead and below ground. One day while at his work he was again lamenting his fate. "Some men," he said, "have only to make known their desires, and straightway these are granted, and their every wish fulfilled; but it has availed me little to wish for ought, for the gods are deaf to the prayers of such as I." As he spoke these words there was a great noise of thunder, and Jupiter appeared before him wielding his mighty thunderbolts. Our poor man was stricken with fear and threw himself on the ground. "My lord," he said, "forget my foolish speech; heed not my wishes, but cease thy thundering!" "Have no fear," answered Jupiter; "I have heard thy plaint, and have come hither to show thee how greatly thou dost wrong me. Hark! I, who am sovereign lord of this world, promise to grant in full the first three wishes which it will please thee to utter, whatever these may be. Consider well what things can bring thee joy and prosperity, and as thy happiness is at stake, be not over-hasty, but resolve the matter in thy mind." Having thus spoken Jupiter withdrew himself and made his ascent to Olympus. As for our woodcutter, he blithely corded his faggot, and throwing it over his shoulder, made for his home. Well, what were the first three wishes the woodcutter made? Were they wise and well thought out or did he wish out of anger and revenege? You're invited to download and read this story to find out, and look for the moral at the end. Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories". Each issue also has a "WHERE IN THE WORLD - LOOK IT UP" section, where young readers are challenged to look up a place on a map somewhere in the world. The place, town or city is relevant to the story. HINT - use Google maps. 33% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities. INCLUDES LINKS TO DOWNLOAD 8 FREE STORIES