Once, a merchant helped an old lady by giving her some food and money. The old lady was actually a fairy in disguise. Pleased with the merchant, she said, “Since you are such a kind person, I will give you the power to understand the language of birds and animals. Then, you will be able to help them too. But do not tell anyone about this, or else you will turn into a stone!”
The merchant thanked the fairy and went home happily. One day, when he and his wife were having lunch, he saw an ant picking up some grains of rice from the table.
While carrying the rice grains, the ant met another ant on her way, which said, “Dear friend, give me some rice grains and get some more for yourself. My feet are hurting.” The first ant replied, “Walk slowly and get your grains yourself. I can’t carry rice grains for the whole colony of ants.”
Hearing this conversation, the merchant laughed. His wife asked, “Why are you laughing at me?” The merchant said that he was not laughing at her. But his wife would not believe him and said, “There is no one here. Either you are crazy to laugh on your own or you think I am crazy to believe you.”
Their fight went on. Finally, the merchant got fed up. He thought, ‘I will tell my wife about my powers, for life is not worth living with her nagging me day and night!’
The merchant took his wife for a walk and said that he would tell her the reason of his laughter on the way. They stopped by at a well to drink some water. Near by, two goats were arguing about something. The merchant became curious.
The billy goat’s wife asked him to get the green leaves growing inside the well. But the billy goat replied, “How can I get them without falling in and getting drowned in the well? I am not so stupid as the merchant here who is about to sacrifice his life for his silly wife.” Saying so, he started walking away. His wife ran after him, apologising for her silly request.
The merchant told his wife, “The goat taught his wife a good lesson. If you ask me silly questions, I have my own reasons not to answer them. If you nag me, I will also walk away.” The wife understood and they went back home and lived happily, thereafter.