The rope maker
Ahamed was a rope maker. Each day he would take little cotton strings and twist them into ropes. He would then sell the ropes in the market. But he could not make much money. He was very poor. He could hardly earn enough even to buy a meal for his family.
Ahamed had two rich friends. They were sad to see their friend work so hard and still remain poor. `We will give you a hundred gold coins. Go and buy a shop with this money. Work hard and you will become rich. We will come and meet you after six months.
Ahamed had never seen so much money before. After his friends left, he began to think, `What kind of shop should I buy?’ he could not make up his mind. He looked out of the window. He saw his two children playing in the ground. He got an idea. He decided to take ten gold coins to the market to buy some good clothes and some sweets for children. He did not want to leave the rest of the gold coins at home. So he did ninety gold coins in his turban and put that turban on his head.
Ahamed some clothes and a box of sweets from the market and started for some. He was very happy. He was still thinking which shop to buy. He did not see a kite eyeing his box of sweets. The kite swooped down and tried to lift the box of sweets from his hand. Ahamed held on tightly to the box.
The kite dug its claw into Ahamed’s turban and pulled at it. The turban came off. The bird flew off with the turban.
Ahamed, `The bird... Catch the bird…My turban… it has all my gold coins.’
The passersby heard his cries. They did not know about the gold coins in Ahamed’s turban. They began to laugh at him.
Poor Ahamed lost his money. He was poor once again. He could not buy a shop. All the money his friends had given him was lost forever.
Six months passed, and Ahamed was still working hard making and selling roes. When his friends came to see him they were very sad.
`You will not become rich with our money. This time we will give you something which is useless. Let us see if you can become rich with it.’
The friends Ahamed a piece lead.
A fisherman lived next to Ahamed’s house. One night, he asked Ahamed for a piece of lead. He used to tie the lead to his fishing net. The heavy lead would sink the net into the water. Then the fish would get caught in the net. He had lost his piece of lead and he wanted to cast his net in the sea early the next morning. Ahamed was glad to give his piece of lead to his neighbor. `I will give you the first fish I catch in the morning,’ the fisherman promised, gratefully
The next morning, the fisherman gave large fish. When Ahamed cut open the fish, he found a big shinning diamond inside it.
Ahamed sold the diamond and with that money he bought a shop. He started selling silk from his shop. He became a rich man.
When his friends came to visit him six months later, they were happy to see their friend become rich at last. They were left wondering how a useless piece of lead could make their friend so rich!
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