_@ Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Seri, there was an honest trader. He travelled from place to place selling trinkets! and other fancy goods. Sometimes another trader, who sold similar wares, travelled with him. That trader was a greedy man and often cheated his customers. One day, both of them went into the city of Andhapura to carry out their business. To avoid competition, they went in different directions. This was their usual practice—if one found the other ina stre he would not go into that street. Following the usual practice, they divided the city between themselves and began selling their goods. They went through the streets shouting, “Beads for sale! Beads for sale!” and people came out of their homes to buy goods. An old woman and her granddaughter lived in that city. They belonged to a family of traders and years before, they had been very rich. But now Scanned with CamScannershouting, “Beads for sale! Beads for sale!” When the young girl heard him, she begged her grandmother to buy her something. “But we don’t have money to buy anything, dear,” said the grandmother. “There is nothing valuable we can offer in exchange either.” The girl looked around the house and found an old, black bowl that they never used. She took it to her grandmother and said, “Grandmother, look! Here’s an old bowl. We never use it. Let us ask him if he’d give us something in exchange for this bowl.” The old woman looked sadly at the bowl. It was the bowl her husband always used when he was alive. After his death, she had put it away and had forgotten all about it. What she didn’t know was that the bowl was made of gold and was very valuable. It was black only because it had collected several layers of dirt and grime? over the years. Seeing no harm in selling it, she decided to exchange it for an ornament her granddaughter liked. She called out to the greedy they had lost all their money and were very poor. They did whatever work they could find and barely managed to find enough to eat and survive. That afternoon, the greedy trader came to their street Eg Scanned with CamScanner4 trader and invited him into their house, She showeq hi the bowl and said, “Sir, my granddaughter woulg li a trinket. Would you give her something she choos your wares and take this bowl in exchange?” Ke to by 5 from The greedy trader didn’t think much of the bow! but decided to look at it anyway. He took it in his hand, turned it over and scratched the back of it with a needle. When the layers of dirt fell, he realized it was a bowl made of real gold. It was worth more than al the money he had. But since the old woman didn’t know its worth, he decided to cheat her. He thought, “I’ll make them believe that the bowl is worthless and walk away now. Then I'll come back later and pretend to take up their offer because | pity them. That way they will give it to me for very little money.” So he threw the bowl on the floor and shouted, “Why did you waste my time? This bowl isn’t even worth a single bead from my goods!” He then turned around and walked away, happy that his plan was working. Right then, the honest trader came into that street. Since he did not find the other peddler3 there, he decided it was alright to try selling his wares in this street. When they saw him, Scanned with CamScannerthe young girl and her grandmother decided to try their luck with this trader, So they called him and showed him the bowl, half-expecting him to throw it on the floor too. But as soon as he realized it was made of gold, he said, “Mother, this is a golden bowl and | don’t have enough money to buy it from you. It is worth at least a thousand silver coins and | have only five hundred silver coins with me.” The old woman could not believe her ears, “But the other peddler threw it on the floor, saying it is worthless,” she said. “Please take it and we'll accept anything you give us in return.” He gave her all the money he had and still felt he wasn’t being fair. So he gave them all his goods too. He kept just enough money to get back home and left with the bowl. Shortly after he left, the greedy trader returned to their house and told them he was willing to consider their offer because he felt pity for them. The old woman was furious, “You crook! You told us that the bowl was worthless. You thought you could cheat us! Luckily, an honest trader came and bought it from us for almost a thousand silver coins. You are too late!” When the peddler heard it, he was in agony’, “You cheated me of my golden bow!! | was the first one to realize it was made of gold. It should be mine!” He ran after the other trader, hoping to catch him and take ae the bowl from him, but by then Scanned with CamScannerthe honest trader had crossed the nearby river and | gone away to another town. The greedy peddler wa \j disappointed at having lost a fortune that by the ti 4 : : im 1 reached his house, he was terribly sick. he The good trader took the bowl to another city and it fetched him more money than he had imagined, He we home arich man. He continued to be good and honesty his customers and lived happily for many years, @ Reading 6 1. What did the two traders do to avoid competition when th were in the same town? "7 . Were the old woman and her granddaughter always poor? What proof do we have of this? . What was the greedy trader's plan to get the bowl? 4. How did the honest trader react when he realized that the bowl was made of gold? 5. How did the actions of the two traders affect their lives? @ | | | N w @ Vocabulary 6 Match the four pairs of synonyms given below. 1. trader O a. dishonest 2. wares O b. ornament 3. deceitful O «. peddler 4. trinket O 4d. goods Scanned with CamScanner