None of My Business! (25.04.2005) There was a peasant in our village. He was a strange man.... (Chinese tale) Obedient apprentice (28.03.2005) One apothecary had an apprentice. The master was always discontented with him and scolded him for stupidity... (Chinese tale) Sold shadow (07.03.2005) There was a rich man in a village. His house stood near a highway and there was a large mulberry growing in front of the gate... (Chinese tale) Cake and Sticks (21.02.2005) One day, a rich farmer sent his farm-hand to the mountains for sticks. He awoke him early in the morning and said... (Chinese tale) Mayor Hamaguchi (31.01.2005) In the Japanese town of Wakayama, there is a monument to Mayor Hamaguchi... Self-coordination (03.01.2005) The parameters of a technical system may be coordinated with different outward conditions in different ways... Ideal advertising (13.12.2004) Perhaps farmers are the most closed-minded people in the world... The best dish of the Chinese cuisine (29.11.2004) Europeans and Americans traveling South East Asia treat local cuisine with respect but carefully... Earth's Attraction (03.11.2004) In solving an inventive problem, it is very important to understand the casual relation of phenomena taking place in a system... How Suey Venchan got a gift (06.02.2004) Once a country teacher took out a sack of gifts and... (Chinese folktale) How Suey Venchan carried water (30.01.2004) Once a country teacher decided to test the mother wit of country children... (Chinese folktale) Holy mountain (23.01.2004) Once Uncle Denba was walking home from the field and singing a song... (Mongolian folktale) Proper day's routine (16.01.2004) There was once a rich peasant. He was very greedy and cunning and always took advantage over his farm-hands... (Belarusian folktale) What is it better to ask the mighty for? (26.12.2003) They say once Stalin invited four known Soviet cinema producers and said... Far-seeing Hodja Nasreddin (26.09.2003) Hodja Nasreddin who lived in the Shah's palace under the name of Hussein Guslia decided... Nasreddin Hodja pays for smell (19.09.2003) One day Nasreddin Hodja was walking about the market when suddenly he saw... Nasreddin Hodja and moneylender (12.09.2003) One day Nasreddin Hodja was promenading in the streets when he saw a dense crowd... Nasreddin Hodja and learned ass (05.09.2003) One day Emir called Nasreddin Hodja and asked him... What sticks to hands (22.08.2003) Suvorov's army became famous for its legendary crossing of the Alps... How is a piston doing in a cylinder? (15.08.2003) First internal combustion engines were bulky and had heavy parts... Khakim in a well (08.08.2003) This is what happened one day in the town where Dakho lived... (Iranian folktales) Nasreddin Hodja treats moneylender (01.08.2003) Once Nasreddin Hodja heard that the rich moneylender Jafar had fallen sick and promised big money for a cure... Hay - straw! (25.07.2003) In the days of Peter the First, soldiers were mainly recruited from peasants' children... Dakho goes to war (11.07.2003) People were going to war and called Dakho... (Iranian folktales) In search for the essence of things (27.06.2003) Dakho was known as an adept at explaining and interpreting any phenomena, both useful and harmful ones... (Iranian folktales) Monkeys, tarbooshes, donkey and thieves (20.06.2003) Once a quick-witted man lived in Tunisia. His name was Zhkha... (Tunisian tales) Skilful draftsman (13.06.2003) The Chinese Ambassador was a skilful draftsman. Once he started boasting to Highly Educated Kujing... (Vietnamese tale) Heroic narrative about heroic battle (06.06.2003) One old admiral was introduced to Katherine the Second after a victorious sea battle... Witty soldier (30.05.2003) Once Peter the First put on a soldier's uniform and went to a tavern. There he saw a sad soldier sitting at a table... Inventive Dakho (23.05.2003) Dakho, the famous character of Iranian tales, was an inventive man. Here are some of his inventions... (Iranian folktales) How one should speak and listen (16.05.2003) One day Dakho was coming along the street when suddenly he met the angry khakim... (Iranian folktales) Dakho-handyman (09.05.2003) Dakho showed discrimination in mechanisms and could detect a fault at once... (Iranian folktales) Riddles (02.05.2003) Once some friends met and began to propose riddles to each other... (Iranian folktales) Jugs and teapot (25.04.2003) Once Dakho went to Teheran and decided to buy a famous Teheran jug... (Iranian folktales) Avaricious doctor (04.04.2003) Once Tenali Raman fell sick. His wife was worried and asked a peacocky rich doctor to cure her husband of the disease... (Indian folktales) Hadji's pupils (28.03.2003) Little Petre attended the school of a hadji-teacher... (Macedonian folktales) Place for keeping a car key (21.03.2003) A young Englishwoman was about to go somewhere in a car: the child was in place, the cosmetics bag was in her handbag, and the car was waiting in the yard... Miraculous victory (14.03.2003) Emperor and his advisors were enjoying the amazing handiness of a visiting magician... (Indian folktale) Tenali Raman saves his brother-in-law (07.03.2003) In the palace garden of Emperor Krishna Deva Raya, trees, brought from the endmost lands of the earth, were laden with fruit... (Indian folktale) It is dangerous to wink at a queen (28.02.2003) One evening, a merchant was walking the main street of the city in front of the ruler's palace... (Indian folktale) Two cows (21.02.2003) A peasant named Ero grazed cows of a rich judge. His own cow also was in the judge's herd of cattle... (Herzegovinian folktales) Well and thieves (14.02.2003) Tenali Raman had a big garden. In a rainless summer, the trees in his garden needed abundant watering... (Indian folktale) Imperial Ban (03.02.2003) Tenali Raman was the favorite fool of the Emperor and often presumed to make fun of proud nobles... (Indian folktale) White turban (24.01.2003) This happened in Macedonia. One peasant had a missive letter written in Turkish... (Macedonian tale) Poisonous persimmon (30.12.2002) There were two monks in a monastery - one of them was young and the other was old. The old monk was avaricious... (Korean tale) Palanquin bearers (18.12.2002) There was once an old man. He hired two bearers to carry him on a palanquin wherever he would like... (Korean tale) Sand masts (11.12.2002) This happened in ancient times. The Chinese Emperor sent a messenger to the King of Korea ... (Korean fairy tale) Eyeless monster (25.11.2002) Many years ago a three-eyed giant monk lived on the mountain pass called Tatto... (Japanese tale) Stupid donkey (18.11.2002) One day a merchant loaded his donkey with sacks of salt and went to the market... (Korean fairy tale) Enchanted pass (11.09.2002) In ancient times, there was a pass over one mountain. Its name was Three-Years... (Korean fairy tale) Pen for Astronauts (10.09.2002) The main purpose of the first space flights was to prove their possibility in principle. Each flight was a great event. But as space flights became more and more trivial ... Jealous wife (09.09.2002) One man took a concubine, but his wife was jealous, so she made a row time and again... (Korean fairy-tale) Peasant and steam-engine (08.09.2002) In the middle of the 19th century, one Russian industrialist bought a steam-engine... Dobrynya Nikitich feat (07.09.2002) A great Russian fairy tale hero Dobrynya went to bathe in the Puchai-river... (from a Russian fairy tale)		Popular wisdom as a source of deriving efficient ideas is inexhaustible. In old fairy tales one often comes across most unexpected solutions in seemingly insolvable situations. There are also tales popular among technical people the truth of which cannot be guaranteed but which are useful to listen to. In accordance with their genre these short stories have a kind of "moral" that describes the invention artifice used to solve a problem.