Here are some stories which use Tulaa --

1. A Monkey and Two Crows
One day a cook was cooking a big Appam in a house for a festive occasion. Two crows reached the house yard smelling the Appam. The cook somehow felt to give one big Appam to crows so he threw one just outside. The two crows dragged it a bit far and desired to divide it equally and eat leisurely. Either crow could not take the full Appam in its beak due to its size and weight.

The then crows saw one monkey a little away. They requested the monkey to help them in equally dividing the Appam in two parts. The monkey came consenting to divide the Appam. It felt the smell of Appam watering from its mouth. It was wise and interested to get a part of it for himself also while equally dividing it. The monkey tore the Appam in to two parts and put the two parts in his each hand and weighed with mind. One part in right hand seemed slightly weighing more, so tore a little from its side and placed the remaining one in his one arm. Now the other part in his left hand seemed weighing more, so he ate a little from from that side also.

The process got repeated a second time. The crows noted the monkey is eating the Appam and they are loosing that much Appam. Now the crows are also very intelligent. The elder crow told the younger crow - "See, even before our tasting monkey is eating and quantity of Appam is getting reduced." The younger crow nodded and asked the elder one what to do. Then the elder one thought of a way to get whole the Appam from the monkey, he said to the monkey - "This weighing difference is not a problem between us. We are brothers, we can manage." They snatched the bits from the monkey's hands and flew away.

Lesson - Unity is strength. If there is a difference between two men and a third man is approached he will make use of the situation to his benefit, making both of them loose, so be united.

2. A Monkey and Two Cats
It is a similar story to the above but it is between a monkey and the two cats, instead of crows. Once two cats got a large piece of Rotee (Indian flat bread) from somewhere. They started fighting over it saying "I have seen it first I will eat it", "I have seen it first, this is mine." It was difficult to settle down the matter. The then a monkey happened to be there. Seeing them quarreling on a Rotee he also desired to eat the Rotee. How to eat it?

He politely asked the cats what was the matter for fighting? One cat said - "I have got this Rotee and I want to eat it, while he is saying that he has got this Rotee so he wants to eat this Rotee." Monkey was intelligent, he suggested that his home was near and he had a Tulaa (balance) so he could divide it in two equal parts, and then there should be no fight.

Seeing no other alternative the cats got ready. the monkey took them to his home and brought out his Tulaa. Now the monkey divided the Rotee in two parts kept them on the Tulaa's two sides and weighed it. Now sometimes Tulaa's one side became heavier, so the monkey broke a little part from that Rotee and ate it, and when the other side became heavier, he ate from the other side, thus trying to make both parts as equal parts.

Both the cats continued to look at the monkey but could not do anything. Neither of them was ready to leave his own share. Dividing the Rotee this way, the monkey had eaten almost all the Rotee. A little part was left, so he ate it saying - "This is my ... to do your job." and went away taking his Tulaa away. Both the cats also went away after losing their Rotee.

Lesson - Unity is strength. If there is a difference between two men and a third man is approached he will make use of the situation to his benefit, making both of them loose, so be united. In this story both the cats did not understand this and had to lose every bit of their Rotee.

3. Ali Baabaa and 40 Thieves
This third story also makes use of Tulaa. Read it that what Tulaa did to a poor man. This story is from Arabian Nights. There were two brothers - Kaasim and Alee Baabaa. Kaasim was elder and married a rich widow so he became rich; while Alee Baabaa married a poor woman and remained poor. Alee Baabaa had three asses which he used to bring wood from the forest to maintain his family. Kaasim had an intelligent maid also named Marjeenaa. One day Alee Baabaa was in the forest, he saw 40 people coming on their horses and entering a cave at a little distance from him. They said "Open Sesame" and the door of the cave opened up, they went inside and after a while they came out, said the same "Shut Sesame" and the door got closed and they went away.

Alee Baabaa got very curious about that cave, so as those people had gone, he went to the cave and said "Open Sesame" and the door of the cave got opened. As he entered inside he saw lots of gold and jewelry and gems etc there. He loaded his three asses with gold coins, shut the cave door and came home. he asked his wife to count them, but she suggested that since they were many, it is better to weigh them. Kaasim had a Tulaa, so she would go to his house and borrow his Tulaa to weigh the gold coins. She went there and asked Kaasim's wife her Tulaa. Kaasim's wife also got curious as Alee Baabaaa was very poor she wanted to know what was it Alee Baabaa's wife wanted to weigh? What did she have so much so the she needed her Tulaa. So she stuck some gum in the bottom of the Tulaa's pans.

Alee Baabaa's wife came home hastily, closed the door and weighed the coins and kept them safely digging a hole in the floor. The poor woman did not know that one gold coin was stuck to the gum in the Tulaa pan. When she had returned the Tulaa to Kaasim's wife, she immediately saw the bottom of the pan and found a gold coin stuck to it. She understood that Alee Baabaa has become rich because he had so much gold that he could not even count the coins, he had to weigh them. She reported this to Kaasim and Kaasim talked to Alee Baabaa, and Alee Baabaa seeing no alternative told him the whole story. Kaasim asked the password to open the cave, Alee Baabaa told him that also.

Now Kaasim got crazy hearing this. He could not wait for the next day. so next day he took 10 mules and several chests and went to the cave, said "Open Sesame" and entered the cave. As he entered the cave the door got shut behind him. He collected lots of gold and as he wanted to come back he wanted to pen the door but could not open the door as he had forgotten the word Seasame. He took the names of many other grains but those names did not open the door. In the meantime, the thieves came there and found him inside. They cut him into four pieces, hung them on the door of the cave and went away. But now they were careful as they knew that somebody has seen their cave. When Kaasim did not return, Kaasim's wife asked Alee Baabaa to find about him. Alee Baabaa went to the cave and brought the four parts of his body home. He gave those pieces to Marjeenaa and asked he to keep this secret that Kaasim was killed, and to show only that he died a natural death. Marjeenaa first went to a doctor to bring some medicine for Kaasim and then declared him dead. Then she went to a cobbler, brought him blindfold and got his body stitched by paying three gold coins. He was buried naturally.

When the thieves came back, they were surprised to see that Kaasim's body was gone and some of their gold coins bags too. One of the thieves promised to find out who was doing it. He came to the town early morning and found the cobbler's shop opened. On asking how he opens shop so early, he told him that he had so good eyesight, that recently he sewed a dead man's body in even very dim light. The thief asked him to show his house where he sewed his body. He could not tell the exact location of the house as he was taken there blindfolded, but when the thief gave him two gold pieces, he got ready to show him.

The thief tied a cloth on his eyes and he brought him to Kaasim's house where Alee Baabaa was living now. The thief put a chalk mark on his door for identification and went away to report to his chief. A little while after Marjeenaa came out and saw the mark on her door. She thought somebody wanted to harm her master, so she marked some other houses around her own with the same mark. When the thief came next day to show the house to his Chief, he could not identify the house as many houses were marked in the same way. The thieves did it once more by marking his house but Marjeenaa failed them by the same trick. Now the Chief himself went there and did not put any mark, just identified the house and went away.

Next day he came to Alee Baabaa's house with 19 mules and 39 large jars, 38 of them were empty and one was full of oil. He told him that he was a merchant and wanted to sell oil. He wanted to take rest for a night on his way to town. Alee Baabaa agreed and he asked Marjeenaa to prepare food for him. After the food the Chief went outside to sleep. In the meantime his 38 people came and hid themselves in the 38 jars. The Chief instructed them that when he throws the stone they should come out of the jars and kill Alee Baabaa, and he went to sleep.

In the meantime the oil in the lamp got finished in Alee Baabaa's house. Since it was night, Marjeenaa thought that she could take a little oil from the oil merchant's oil jar. She went to the first jar and was about to take the oil out of it, a voice spoke - "Is it the time?" Marjeenaa got surprised to hear this, but immediately gathered herself and replied - "Not yet, but soon." Thus she was asked the same question by remaining 37 people and she replied the same to all. She took the oil from the last jar and came back. She lit the fire, boiled enough water to pour in 38 jars and poured it in them. This killed all the people of the Chief. After a while the Chief got up and went to warn his people, but nobody came out, so he went there and found all his people dead. He knew that Alee Baabaa had known his plan so he ran away from his house. Next morning Marjeenaa showed Alee Baabaa the dead people in the jars and the merchant's mules in the stable and the merchant was nowhere to be found.

By his next plan the Chief opened a shop opposite to Alee Baabaa's son Hussain's shop. he took the same name as Alee Baabaa's son's and extended his friendship with him. Once Hussain took his new friend to his house and Alee Baabaa insisted him to have his dinner with him. he told him that he would eat the food without salt. Marjeenaa was very surprised to hear this, she thought who is that who would not eat salt? She came out to see him and immediately recognized him as the oil merchant of that night with a dagger hidden in his clothes. After the food Marjeenaa danced before them and plunged her dagger in his heart. All were surprised to see this, but Marjeenaa quieted everybody with her pleas. Alee Baabaa freed her from slavery and married his son to her.

So what happened as a result of a Tulaa. Neither Alee Baabaa's wife weighed the coins, nor the coin got stuck to the bottom of the pan, nor Kaasim went to the cave, nor he was killed, nor Alee baabaa had the danger to be killed.