Merchant Daniel | Story Time

Merchant Daniel | Story Time

A merchant named Daniel lived in a small town. He and his wife were loving and helpful. Everyone in town knew about the couple. Everyone was delighted with the couple’s hospitality and kindness.

All of Daniel’s ships, which were at sea, got damaged by the storm. The ships were all loaded with precious goods. They were all destroyed. All those who had lent him money for the business demanded him to return the money immediately.

He had to sell all his property and pay it off. In the end he lost everything and became extremely poor. Wealth left him and his friends left him.

Daniel was very sorry to think of it. ‘My friends have left me too! It seems now that they wanted my wealth’ he thought sadly. I have nothing to give to my wife and children except poverty and grief. I couldn’t see them suffer. The only way is to take my life. Daniel fell a sleep as he was worried about his loss. 

That night he had a strange dream. A monk appeared to him in a dream and said, “As soon as you touch my head with a stick, I will turn into a number of gold coins”. In the same dream, Daniel saw that he touched the monk with a stick and the monk immediately turned into a pile of gold coins. 

In the morning, Daniel woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. “Will my dream come true? Will I get rich again?”  Daniel thought to himself. “The hairdresser has come to see you,” said his wife.  “Wasn’t it nonsense I thought the dream would come true?”. That will never be true one day, he said to himself.

Daniel sat down in front of the hairdresser to get a haircut. Again there was a knock on the door. Daniel got up and opened the door. What a surprise! A monk was standing there. Daniel was stunned and took a stick and touched the monk’s head.  Immediately a pile of gold coins appeared in front of him. Daniel was very happy to see this. He also gave a lot of gold coins to the hairdresser.

Later, Daniel sent the hairdresser advising him not to tell anyone what had happened. The hairdresser was not only a greedy man; Even there is no fool like him, if he hit the monks on the head with a stick they would turn into gold coins, right?. 

He thought, Now I know how to get rich. I also get tired of getting a couple of coins for shaving and hairdressing every day. Soon I too will be rich, he thought to himself. He took the coins and walked away.

He went to a monastery and invited some of the monks to his house for a feast. As soon as the monks came into his house the hairdresser took a stick and began to hit them on the head. The miserable monks were stunned and one of them escaped from his house. 

He called the police for help. The police arrested the hairdresser and took him before a judge. Why did you hit those monks with a stick? asked the judge. The hairdresser explained the incident happened in Daniel’s residence.

The judge summoned Daniel to come there. The judge asked Daniel if what he was saying was true. Daniel told the judge the whole story in detail. The judge, hearing the whole story, understood that the hairdresser had acted greedily and dishonestly. Gave the appropriate punishment to the foolish hairdresser.

Justice: Greed and dishonesty can lead to misery.



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