Greedy businessman

A merchant had seven sons but no daughter. This merchant was so greedy and miserly that he never gave a single rupee to the poor and the needy. He loved money more than anything else.

In front of the merchant's mansion, there was a poor shepherd who set up a tent. The shepherd’s family would sell the milk and curd they obtained from their sheep to the merchant's family at a very low price. One day, an old woman, dressed in tattered clothes, entered the merchant’s mansion. The merchant's sons and servants assumed she was a beggar and tried to chase her away, but the old woman ran away from them and reached the merchant's wife.

The old woman took an apple from her pouch and gave it to the merchant's wife, saying, "By eating this apple, you will have a beautiful daughter." The merchant’s wife, overjoyed, took the apple and ate it eagerly. Just then, the merchant’s sons entered the room. The old woman said goodbye to the merchant's wife and left the house. However, before leaving, she told the merchant’s wife, "I am the fairy of marriage, and the fate of your future daughter is tied to the son of the shepherd who is camping in front of your mansion." After saying this, she left swiftly.

The merchant’s wife and sons ran after her, begging her not to do this, but the old woman was already moving quickly and soon disappeared from sight.

At that moment, the merchant came home and asked his wife what had caused her distress. When she told him the whole story, he was also deeply saddened. The merchant knew that the shepherd had a six-month-old son. Initially, the merchant thought of giving him money to make him leave for another town, but suddenly he changed his mind and thought: If the boy is alive, the danger will always be present, even if he moves to another town. The merchant, knowing that the shepherd was a poor and unfortunate person, considered another plan. He went to the shepherd and said, "O kind man! I love your son so much that I cannot live without him. If you agree, I would like to adopt him as my own son and raise him in my house like my own child. I will give you as much money as you want, and I promise that when he grows up, I will return him to you."

The shepherd, thinking about the troubles he faced in his life, always wandering with his few sheep and goats, considered that his son would be happy and comfortable in the house of a wealthy merchant. Unaware of the true intention of the merchant, the shepherd agreed and gave him his son, taking some money in return and moving to another town.

The merchant gave the shepherd's son to one of his servants and told him, "Kill him and put his blood in a bottle and bring it to me." The servant took the boy to a desolate desert, but he was a kind-hearted person. Unable to harm the innocent child, he killed a pigeon instead, put its blood in the bottle, and took it back to the merchant. The boy was set free in that desolate and barren desert where no one existed except God.

Early the next morning, the shepherd, leading his caravan of camels, goats, and donkeys, passed through the desert. Suddenly, he spotted a beautiful boy lying on the ground. Moved by compassion, the shepherd lifted the boy and realized it was his son, the one he had entrusted to the merchant. He thanked God and was able to retrieve his son. After that, he moved to another town and engaged in business. The boy grew day by day, becoming a handsome, strong, and tall young man. He helped the merchant with his business until they made a lot of money and built a house for themselves.

The shepherd's story ends here, and from the merchant's family, we hear that the merchant's wife gave birth to a beautiful daughter, who grew up alongside the shepherd's son, becoming a stunning maiden who had no match in the entire town.

One day, the merchant set out for a business trip and traveled to another city, where the shepherd, who was now a rich merchant, lived. The merchant stayed at the shepherd's house for the night and saw a handsome, strong, and powerful young man who prepared a meal for him. The merchant was immediately captivated by the young man, and after a while, he asked the shepherd, "Is this young man your son?"

The old shepherd told the merchant the entire story of what had happened before. The merchant realized that this was the same boy he had sent to be killed. The merchant became worried that if this young man married his daughter, he would share all his wealth with him. The greedy merchant, who loved his money more than anything, began thinking of a way to kill the shepherd's son. He cleverly persuaded the shepherd to allow his son to carry an important message to his family, offering him a large sum of money, which the shepherd accepted. In the letter, the merchant had instructed his eldest son to kill the messenger as soon as he received the letter.

The shepherd's son set out to deliver the merchant's letter. After facing many difficulties, he reached the city and arrived at the merchant’s house. He knocked on the door, but at that moment, all the merchant’s sons were out, and only the merchant’s daughter, who had grown very beautiful, remained at home. She opened the door, and at that moment, she fell in love with the shepherd’s son. She asked him in a trembling voice, "What do you want, and whom are you looking for?" The shepherd’s son, too, was taken by her beauty.

He handed her the letter and requested that she give it to her brothers. The shepherd’s son sat under a tree in front of their house, resting. The merchant’s daughter couldn’t stop thinking about him. At that moment, she realized she had the letter and wanted to see what was written inside. When she opened the letter, she was shocked. She quickly tore it up, grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote a new letter. In it, she said that she would marry the messenger and that a grand wedding should be organized with food for everyone. She signed the letter with her father’s name, sealed it in an envelope, and sent it to her brothers.

When the merchant's sons returned and read the letter, they were shocked to see that their father had signed it. They couldn’t disobey their father's command, so they went back to the shepherd’s son, welcomed him, and gave him new clothes. The next day, they arranged the wedding.

Months later, the merchant returned home. He was planning to marry his daughter to his nephew, who was also a wealthy merchant. However, the daughter had rejected him, as he was miserly, money-obsessed, and ill-tempered.

When the merchant entered his home, he saw the shepherd’s son lying on a couch in the living room, with his daughter serving him tea. At first, the merchant was furious, but when his sons explained that they had married his daughter to this young man as per his instructions, he fell silent for a moment. He soon learned the full story but tried to hide his displeasure and pretended to be happy, offering his congratulations to the couple.

That night, as he lay in bed, the merchant couldn’t stop thinking about his vast wealth and how his son-in-law would inherit it after his death. His worries kept him awake, and he began to think of other ways to escape this situation.

The next morning, he told his daughter that some guests were coming to their house. He asked her to tell her husband to go to the baker and order some fresh bread and pastries. He also told her to instruct the servants, as the baker might not take her message seriously. Then, the merchant himself went to the bakery, paid a large sum of money, and instructed the baker to throw the young man into the oven and hide his body.

That morning, the merchant's daughter told her husband to go to the bakery. However, when he tried to go, his wife stopped him and told him that the task had already been given to the servants.

The merchant woke up, put on his coat, and went to the bakery. When he arrived, he asked the baker about the bread he had ordered, but before he could finish his sentence, the baker, thinking he was the one who should be thrown into the oven, dragged him and pushed him into the oven.

The merchant’s sons waited for a long time, but their father never returned. They searched everywhere, but could not find him. Eventually, they gave up and assumed he had died

Without their father, the merchant's sons were helpless and unable to continue his business. They knew that the shepherd’s son was an intelligent and capable person, so they entrusted him with all of their father's business. In a short time, the shepherd's son managed the merchant’s entire fortune.