The Money in the Pot of Butter I

Then he took the pot to his neighbour and said: "Please keep this pot of butter for me until I come back." He did not say anything about the money

in the pot. A month passed, two months passed, but the traveller did not come back. His neighbour thought: "I am afraid the butter in that pot is bad."

And he took all the butter out of the pot and saw the money there. He took the money for himself and put many small stones into the pot in place of

the money. 

When the traveller came back, he asked his neighbour for the pot. He carried it home and took out all the butter. He wanted to take the money,

but he found only many small stones under the butter. He was very angry. Then one of his friends came to see him.

"You look angry, my friend! Why are you angry?" asked his friend. "Oh, I am a silly man!" And he told his friend the story about the pot of

butter, the money and the small stones. "Well, I can show you how to get your money back. Let us go to the forest."

And the two friends went to the forest, caught a monkey there and brought it home. "Now you go to your neighbour and say, "Please let your son come with me to the market. He can help me carry food from the market." The man did so. The neighbour sent his son to the man. But they did not go to the market. The man went home with the neighbour's son and locked the boy in his house. The friend said: "Now go to your neighbour with the monkey and say: 'Here is your son.'" The man did so. The neighbour was very angry. "Take that monkey away and bring back my son!" he said.

"Why, this is your son! If money can turn into small stones, then a boy can turn into a monkey." The neighbour understood everything. He brought the money, and the man let the boy go back to his father.

The man thanked his clever friend very much. He wanted to give him part of the money, but the friend did not take it. "We are friends, are we not?" he said. "And friends always help each other but never take money for that. Never, never.!"