THE WILD SWAN AND THE DIAMOND

Once upon a time, there was a moneylender who became bankrupt. He was too
lazy to work for a living. After three days without food, he said to himself, “I
would rather die than work.” Then he went to the river to drown himself. He
removed his clothes and jumped into the river. When the water level was above
his head, he changed his mind about dying. He struggled with all his might to
reach the riverbank.

A little while later, he decided again that he wanted to die. However, after he
had entered the river, he struggled out again. This was repeated several times.
Not far from the river, a swan noticed the strange acts of the moneylender. He
said to the swan beside him, “I’m going to speak to him.” The swan approached
the man and asked, “ May I know why you are jumping in and out of the river?”
The moneylender said, “I want to drown myself but I am so afraid. I have not
eaten any food for a few days.”

“Perhaps I can help you,” said the swan, diving into the water. Soon, he
emerged from the river with a glittering diamond in his beak. He gave it to the
moneylender who happily returned to town. He sold the diamond for a big sum
of money and became a rich man. Time passed and the moneylender had
forgotten about the swan. One day, there was news from the palace that the
princess had a strange illness. A famous doctor said that only the heart of a live
swan could cure the princess. The king proclaimed that he would bestow a
palace and a hundred servants to the first person who brought alive swan. If he
happened to be a man, he could marry the princess.

Immediately the moneylender thought of the swan that helped him. He went
back to that river bank and called out, “My saviour ! my saviour! Where are
you? Where are you? I have met with bad luck again! Will you help me,
please?” The swan heard his calls and he appeared to ask, “What’s wrong
now?” The money lender said, “Please come up to the riverbank and I will tell
you about it. When the swan reached the riverbank, the moneylender caught
hold of it and hurried back to town. “Where are you taking me?” the frightened
swan cried out. “Let me go, I will give you more diamonds.” The moneylender
laughed. “ HAHAHAHAHA..!!!! Who wants your diamonds? It is the princess
who needs to eat your heart to get well. I can have palace with a hundred
servants and marry the princess too!”
The swan started shedding tears and each drop that fell turned into a diamond.
The greedy moneylender saw the diamonds and bent down to pick them up.
But when he stretched out his right hand to reach for the diamonds, it became
stuck to the ground ! Terrified, he used his left hand to pull it up, but it also got
rooted to the ground. When he tried to call for help, the swan flew away.
Suddenly there was a thundering sound as a herd of wild elephants stampeded
in his direction. He was crushed to death.

Moral value: Always be grateful for the help you receive from anyone…it
could be your friends, neighbours and family…Thank you