Long, long ago, in a small village, there lived a hardworking farmer named Ramdas. He was very honest and kind. Every day, he worked hard on his small farm to grow food for his family. Ramdas loved his plants and took great care of them.
But poor Ramdas had a big problem! His farm had no river, no pond, and no well nearby. He had to walk very, very far to get water for his crops. Can you imagine carrying heavy buckets of water every single day? In the hot summer, his plants would become thirsty and dry up because there wasn’t enough water!
Right next to Ramdas lived a merchant named Shankarlal. But oh my! Shankarlal was very cunning and greedy. He was always thinking of ways to trick people and make money. And guess what? He had a beautiful, deep well with sweet, cool water right on his land! But the selfish man never shared his water with anyone.
One day, brave Ramdas gathered all his courage and went to Shankarlal. He asked if he could buy the well. Shankarlal’s eyes sparkled with a sneaky plan. He thought this was his perfect chance to make lots of money! The greedy merchant agreed to sell his well for 5000 rupees – that was A LOT of money back then!
That was almost everything poor Ramdas had! But he really, really needed that well for his farm. So the honest farmer sold all his savings, his gold jewelry, and everything valuable he owned to buy the well. Ramdas was so happy and excited! He thought all his water problems were finally
The next morning, excited Ramdas woke up early and ran to his new well with his bucket. He was so happy to finally have water right next to his farm! But wait! What happened next will shock you!
Suddenly, Shankarlal appeared and shouted for Ramdas to stop! The confused farmer couldn’t understand why. He said he was just taking water from his own well that he had bought yesterday.
But then Shankarlal revealed his terrible trick! The cunning merchant said he had only sold the well, not the water inside it! According to him, the well belonged to Ramdas, but all the water was still his property. If Ramdas wanted to use the water, he would have to pay extra money for it!
Can you believe how mean and tricky that was? Poor Ramdas was so confused and upset! He had never imagined that someone could be so dishonest. All his money was gone, and he still couldn’t use the water he desperately needed!
The sad farmer didn’t know what to do. The village elders felt sorry for him and gave him wise advice. They told him to go to the royal court of the great Emperor Akbar, who was famous for being fair and just. In his court, there was a very clever minister named Birbal who could solve any problem!
Ramdas decided to be brave and travel to the royal court. He told Emperor Akbar and Birbal about his problem. The wise Birbal listened carefully to the whole story. When Shankarlal was called to the court, he proudly repeated his trick, thinking he was very clever.
But Birbal was much, much smarter! The wise minister smiled and spoke to Shankarlal in a calm voice. He agreed that if the water belonged to Shankarlal, then he had every right to keep his water wherever he wanted.
Then came Birbal’s brilliant idea! He told Shankarlal that since the water was his property, he couldn’t keep it on someone else’s land for free! Shankarlal would have to pay rent to Ramdas every day for storing his water in Ramdas’s well! And if he didn’t want to pay rent, he would have to remove ALL his water immediately!
Everyone in the court was amazed by Birbal’s wisdom! Shankarlal’s face turned white with worry. He realized his trick had backfired completely! He couldn’t remove the water from the well, and paying daily rent would cost him much more than the well was worth!
The greedy merchant understood that his dishonesty had trapped him! He felt ashamed of trying to cheat the poor, hardworking farmer. Shankarlal apologized to Ramdas and admitted his mistake. He told Ramdas that both the well and all the water in it truly belonged to him now.
Kind-hearted Ramdas forgave Shankarlal, and from that day on, the merchant never tried to trick anyone again. He became an honest businessman. Ramdas got his well and could finally water his crops properly. His farm became green and beautiful, and his family was very happy!