The Mouse Merchant [Diligence and Gratitude]
The Khuddaka Nikaya is the fifth of the Nikayas found in the Sutta Pitaka, and consist of a collection of short suttas. Amongst them is the Jataka, which contain the birth stories told by the Buddha. In one such sutta, CULLAKA-SEṬṬHI-JĀTAKA, the Mouse Merchant, the Buddha tells of a rags-to-riches story of a young man who takes on the advice of a King’s adviser he overheard, and becomes wealthy through his hard work and determination. The young man began with a dead mouse and in the end of the story, he returns the favour to the adviser out of gratitude by offering half his fortune to the adviser. I’ll leave you to read the sutta with the link below. ^_<
Now, I’ve shared with many people those wonderful stories found in the suttas, and many often dismiss them as being more of a fairy tale or legend that having anything in parallel. Well, a while back, I read of a man who had a similar experience of starting off with something small (a red paper clip) and ending with a tidy fortune (I’ll leave it to you to read about it as well). Amazing? Truly. . . . → Read More: A Mouse Merchant in real life or the Red Paper Clip Man
