Fortune From A Dead Rat
This happened long long ago. There was a beautiful city called Varanasi ruled by Brahmadutta. Shrestha was a citizen of the city. Because of his wisdom and noble nature he had been chosen as the leader of the citizens. It was he who represented the people in the king's court. One day while Shrestha was passing through a locality, his companion stopped, looking at something that lay on the road. "What is it?" asked the chief. "It is a useless thing. A dead rat!" replied the companion. "Nothing is useless in a certain sense. A clever and lucky fellow can make a fortune even out of this dead rat," said Shrestha. Just then a young man who came of a noble family but who had become poor happened to pass by. He overheard what Shrestha said. He had great faith in Shrestha's wisdom. He picked up the dead rat by the tail and resumed walking. He was on his way to the next town in search of some means of livelihood. On the long lonely road, he saw a traveller seated under a tree. The traveller had his pet cat with him. As his eyes fell on the dead rat carried by the youth, he said, "Young man, I will be glad if you spare your rat for the sake of my hungry cat."
The youth gave away the rat and the happy traveller gave him a coin in return. The youth bought an earthen jar with the coin and filling it with cool water sat beside a road which led to the flower market. A group of gardeners who came from distant villages with flowers were thirsty. They drank the water served by the youth with great relish and each one presented him with a few flowers. He prepared half a dozen bouquets and carried them to the market at another end of the town. He sold them at a good price. With the little money he thus earned, he bought some jaggery. At night there was a strong cyclone which damaged hundreds of trees in the royal garden. The whole ground became messy with broken branches. The gardener did not know how to clear them. The youth approached him and said that he can clear the garden of the broken branches if he would be allowed to take away the branches. The gardener gladly agreed to the condition. The youth gathered a number of small boys who were playing the streets and promised them lumps of jaggery if they helped him to clear the mess. The boys were too happy to carry the branches to a place directed by the youth. The youth made bundles of wood out of the branches and waited there till a potter was attracted to the sight. "Will you give me those bundles in exchange for a dozen pots?" he asked. The youth agreed to the deal. The potter happily carried the bundles away to use them as firewood for baking his pots.