Page 31 - Spider Magazine for Kids (January 2020)
P. 31
refreshment in this faraway place, each
woodcutter rewarded him with a piece
of wood.
By evening, Jaidutt had collected
a large pile of wood in exchange for
the chickpeas. He was able to sell it
at the timber market for two rupees.
Overjoyed, he returned home and
showed his earnings to his mother and
grandmother. They praised him for
his good sense. Greatly encouraged,
Jaidutt decided to save one rupee
to buy more chickpeas.
This became his daily routine. He a a att u u u t a e t
prepared two pounds of chickpeas l k a ndr l l ldd
every morning, sat under the tree nss...
with them and a pot of cold water, e e ettt l .
and exchanged them for wood. He y careful saving and shrewd d
d hhh
f l
then sold enough wood to buy what selling, he soon became an important
his family needed and saved the rest. timber merchant. This allowed him
In two months’ time, he had stocked to put aside enough money to get
up several cartfuls of wood. into the cloth trade. Then he took
It so happened that for the next to dealing in grain. After two years,
twelve days, rain poured down so Jaidutt was known as one of the city’s
heavily that the woodcutters could not leading merchants.
go to the forest. After the fourth day, Now it’s time to pay Somadev back,
there was a serious shortage of firewood he thought. He asked a goldsmith to
in the city. The price for wood rose so make a rat of gold, with ruby eyes and
Barricade: 1, Bill the Pillbug: 0. That was some hard Not very shrewd—clever—
timber—wood.
to use his head.
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