The Fall and Rise of a Merchant

The moral of this story: We should treat everyone with respect, even those who may seem unimportant or beneath us.

Once upon a time, in a city called Vardhamana, there lived a very efficient and prosperous merchant. He was so skilled and intelligent that the king of the city appointed him as the administrator of the kingdom. The merchant did an excellent job in his role and managed to keep both the king and the common people happy. It was rare to find someone who could please everyone.

One day, the merchant’s daughter was getting married, and he arranged a lavish reception to celebrate the occasion. He invited the king, queen, and all the respected people of the kingdom to attend. During the reception, he treated his guests with great respect and even gave them gifts to show his appreciation for their attendance.

However, there was one person who was not invited but attended anyway: a servant who worked in the palace. The servant sat in a seat that was reserved for royal nobles, which made the merchant very angry. He grabbed the servant by the neck and had him thrown out of the reception.

The servant felt humiliated by this treatment and couldn’t sleep that night. He wanted revenge on the merchant and came up with a plan to turn the king against him. The next morning, while he was sweeping near the king’s bed, he mumbled something about the merchant embracing the queen.

The king overheard this and became very jealous. From that day on, he stopped favoring the merchant and even forbade him from entering the palace. The merchant was confused and didn’t understand why the king had suddenly turned against him.

One day, when he tried to enter the palace, he was stopped by the guards. The servant was nearby and mocked him, saying that he was powerful enough to have people arrested or released. The merchant realized that it must have been the servant who caused all this trouble.

So he invited the servant to his house and treated him with great respect. He gave him gifts and apologized for throwing him out of his daughter’s reception. The servant forgave him and promised to make things right with the king.

The next morning, while sweeping near the king’s bed again, the servant mumbled something ridiculous about the king eating cucumber in the lavatory. The king realized that what he had said about the merchant must have been false too.

He regretted mistreating the merchant and invited him back to the palace. He gave him gifts and reappointed him to his previous position as administrator of the kingdom.

The moral of this story “The Fall and Rise of a Merchant” is that we should treat everyone with respect, even those who may seem unimportant or beneath us. The merchant made a mistake by mistreating the servant at his daughter’s reception, but he made things right by apologizing and showing kindness towards him. In return, the servant helped restore his reputation with the king.