In a certain town lived a weaver. The cloth he wove was of the best quality, but somehow, he could earn just enough to make ends meet. Other weavers who produced inferior cloth had become rich.
Seeing this, the weaver said to his wife that the other weavers were rich, but he produced better quality cloth. He wanted to try his luck elsewhere. His wife said he was wrong in thinking he would become rich elsewhere if he was not able to make it here. If destiny had it written that he would be rich, that would happen right here.
The weaver said, “Just sitting would not help. Extra efforts would be needed. Prosperity scorns the idle.” He said he had made up his mind to leave the place and try his luck elsewhere.
He went to a city, worked hard for years, and managed to earn gold. He then decided to return home.
On the way home, he had to pass a forest.
Scared that wild animals might attack, the weaver climbed up a tree and went to sleep there. He had a dream in which he saw two ugly, dark men arguing with each other. One was Action, and the other was Destiny.
Destiny asked Action why the weaver had earned gold when he was destined to earn only enough to make ends meet.
Action said it was because of the efforts put in.
They kept arguing like this. When the weaver woke up, the first thing he did was to check his bundle of gold. That was missing.
He decided to turn back and return to the city instead of going home.
In a year, he managed to make more than what he had earned earlier.
On the way back home, he passed the jungle. Instead of waiting there, he decided to continue walking. He held on tightly to his bundle.
Soon he heard the two voices. Destiny said, “Why did you let the weaver earn so much?” Action said, “I could not help it.”
When the weaver checked, his bundle was empty.
He felt extremely disheartened and decided to end his life in that jungle.
He wove a rope from grass and was about to hang himself, when a voice asked him to stop. The voice said, “I am Destiny. I stole your coins as you are not destined to earn so much. I am pleased with you. Ask for a boon.”
The weaver said, “Give me a lot of money.”
The voice said, “What will you do if you are not destined to enjoy that?”
The weaver said, “Money gave status.”
The voice said, “Then go back to the city. There you see two merchants. One is a miser, and one enjoys his wealth. Study them. Then come and let me know what you want to be like.”
The weaver went back. First, he went to the miser’s house. Even though the merchant refused, the weaver forcibly made himself a guest in their house. The family gave him a meal and a place to sleep.
That night, when he was sleeping, he heard Action and Destiny arguing.
Destiny: “Why did you force the miser to give the weaver shelter?”
Action: “I did what I felt was correct. If you feel this was wrong, correct it.”
The next day, when the weaver woke up, he found that the miser was very sick.
The weaver left and went to the second merchant’s house. The weaver was warmly greeted and entertained.
That night again, the weaver heard the two arguing in his dream.
Destiny: “Why did you let the merchant entertain the weaver?”
Action: “What could I do? The merchant was generous and did what was best.”
The next day, the king sent his messenger with a gift for the merchant.
The weaver thought, “This merchant is not very rich, but he has a good nature. I want to be like him.”
When he told Destiny this, his wish was granted, and he enjoyed the money as he had wanted.
The turtle ended his tale and said, “One needs to learn to enjoy what one has. The weaver also learnt this. If one has money but cannot enjoy that, it is the same as not having anything.
Hoarding money will not help. The bees hoard honey, but that gets stolen.”
When the crow, turtle, and mouse were talking, a stag came there. The stag was trying to escape from the hunters.
The stag asked for shelter and ways to avoid the hunters.
The turtle said there were two ways to escape: either fight or run. Run and hide in the jungle and wait.
The crow, which had gone to look and see where the hunters were, returned. He said, “The hunters found some animals, so they have returned. “
The stag came out, and soon he too became their friend. The four would spend time discussing philosophy.
One hot afternoon, the friends were waiting for the stag. It was usually there with them. It had been gone for long. The turtle asked the crow to fly and see if he could get any news.
The crow flew and saw the stag was trapped in a net.
The crow said it would get help.
The crow went and returned with the mouse.
The mouse asked the stag the reason why it was caught, but the stag said they could talk when he was free.
Soon the turtle also arrived at the scene. The mouse finished biting and cutting the net.
The friends asked the turtle why he had come. If the hunter came, the stag could run away, the mouse would get inside a hole, and the crow could fly away. But the turtle could get caught.
While they were talking, a hunter arrived there with an arrow.
Seeing him, the stag bolted. The mouse slipped inside a hole, and the crow flew away. The turtle got caught. The hunter put the turtle in a bag. He would take the turtle home and eat it.
All began crying seeing this. The mouse then said, “There was no point crying. One needed to do something.”
The crow had a plan.
The stag lay down on the ground, pretending to be dead. The crow sat on it, pretending to peck at the deer. The hunter, thinking it was a great day, dropped the bag and came to get the deer. As soon as he did that, the mouse cut the rope tying the bag. The turtle managed to escape to a lake. Seeing this, the deer and the crow both fled.
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The hunter returned to the bag and saw that it was empty. He began cursing destiny.
The four friends then returned to their usual spot and spent the time in each other’s company.
This ends the second book.
Key Takeaways
The weaver’s success shows that effort and hard work are necessary and can override constraints.
Prosperity scorns the idle.
Both Effort and Destiny influence life, and their struggle is central to the human experience of work and reward.
The ultimate key to happiness and fulfillment is not just possessing wealth, but having the disposition to enjoy it.
Hoarding money is futile.
Good friends provide shelter, comfort, and intellectual company.
In the face of danger, they rely on quick thinking and coordinated action rather than despair.
“There was no point crying. One needed to do something” is a key takeaway on facing adversity.
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