The Clever Businessman

Hello, everyone.

    Today I am going to tell you a story of foolish bandits in India. Read on and find out how they were outwitted. It is a very funny story.

The Clever Businessman

    Once upon a time there were four businessmen. Once they wanted to travel to another town for business purposes. They took a few clothes and some food and water. Once they were ready they set out on their way. Now in olden times people travelled by bull carts or by foot and it took many days to reach the next village or town. These people were frugal and they decided to travel by foot.

    As they were walking they came to a forest. Now this forest was known for bandits. Bandits were thieves who would hide in the forests and then they attacked anyone who passed there. Now as these businessmen were walking the bandits attacked them. There were about ten of them.

    “Give us all your money and valuables,” said their leader who was a big scary man with a large moustache merging with his sideburns.

    “We don’t have any money,” said one of the businessmen.

    “You do as we tell you or else we will kill you all,” said the leader showing them a large knife.

    The businessmen were scared but they were clever men. They kept their wits about them. One of them was cleverer than the rest and he had an idea. He saw that they all looked scary but in reality were very foolish.

    “Look we are telling you the truth,” he said. “All our money is our village. Why don’t you go to our village and get it? I will write for you a letter to tell my clerk to give you as much money as you want.”

    The bandits got tempted and they took the bait.

    “Alright, you write for us a letter,” said the leader, “but you put three zeroes.”

    Now these bandits only knew that the more zeroes there were the more money they would get.

    “Put one zero from me,” said another bandit.

    “Put one from me, too,” said another and all of them demanded a zero be put on their behalf.

    “Alright,” said the businessman pretending to look very miserable, “I will but this is not fair. You will take away all our money.”

    “You just do as we say or else we will kill you,” said the leader.

    So the businessman wrote a letter and here is what he wrote.

    Dear Keshav,

    Give these men 000000000/- rupees.

                                              Signed,

                                              Ambalal.

    The bandits were delighted to have made such a good deal. So they took the letter and went to the businessmen’s village thinking of all sorts of things they would do with all the money they would get not knowing the shock that awaited them!

    As soon as they reached the village they sought out the businessmen’s shop and went there. They gave the letter to the clerk. The clerk looked at them and then read the letter. He understood at once what his boss wanted him to do.

    “Wait here a minute,” he told them. “I will have to go and take the money from inside.”

    He went inside and told one of his messengers to call the police. In the meantime he fidgeted here and there.

    Soon the policemen came and took them away. They were shocked and bewildered as to how did this happen.

    “You look confused,” said the clerk with a twinkle in his eye. “Let me explain. You see there were just zeroes there. There were no numbers to show how much amount to give you. From this I understood that my boss did not want to give you any money and by the looks of you I saw that you were bandits and so I called the police.”

    The bandits were so angry but they could do nothing about it. They were arrested and taken to jail.

The Three Neighbours

Hello, everyone.

    The story that I am going to tell you is my own creation. It is a story of three ladies. Two of the ladies are close friends and then the third one comes to live in the neighbourhood.

    Read on and find out what happens when the third lady comes to live next door. Do they remain friends or do they part ways?

The Three Neighbours

    Once there were two neighbours who lived next door to each other.

    One was called Miss Prim as you can see by her name she was a clean and tidy kind of a person. She kept her house nice, clean and tidy. You wouldn’t find a speck of dust anywhere.

    The other one was called Miss Mary. Now she was quite the opposite. Her house was not very clean and tidy like Miss Prims. It’s not like she did not try but she just couldn’t do it. She got tired very quickly and she just did not feel well. She would decide that the next day she would clean her house but when she would wake up in the morning she would feel worse. She was in pain all the time. Poor Miss Mary was beside herself with despair. She did not know what to do.

    Whereas Miss Prim was tall and thin, Miss Mary was round and chubby.

    Miss Prim always told Miss Mary that she was a very lazy woman. She was just making excuses not to work when she complained of her aches and pains. Miss Prim told her that it was it all in her mind.

    Miss Mary began to believe Miss Prim that maybe it was in her mind after all.

    Now as it happened that there was a house next to Miss Mary’s that was empty. One day a new neighbour came to live there. She was a lady called Miss Jane. She was not very tall and she was thin but not as thin as Miss Prim.

    As soon as Miss Prim saw a neighbour had come to live there she went to visit her. She baked a small cake to take it with her. Then she went.

    She knocked on the door and Miss Jane opened it. Miss Prim introduced herself and gave her the cake. Miss Jane invited her inside.

    Miss Jane had just moved in so she was not settled down yet. There were boxes and other things everywhere. Miss Prim looked at all this decided to ask her new neighbour if she could help.

    “Oh, no!” said Miss Jane. “It was very kind of you to offer but i will manage. Thanks for your offer anyway.”

    Miss Prim talked for a while longer and then left.

    Now the next day Miss Mary baked some buns and took it to Miss Jane. She introduced herself and gave her the buns. She talked with for a while and then left. Miss Jane took a liking to this chubby lady at once. As Miss Mary was going she invited her to come and visit her again. Miss Mary invited her to her house as well.

    After a few days Miss Prim went to see Miss Jane again to see how she was progressing with her settling down. She was pleasantly surprised to see that Miss Jane had almost unpacked and put away most of her things.

    “I must say I am impressed by the way you have almost finished all your work,” said Miss Prim. “There are people that don’t even bother about their houses. They just let dust pile up everywhere. They are so careless. Take Miss Mary as an example. Her house is always untidy. She never bothers about anything. She is so lazy.”

    Miss Jane did not like Miss Prim criticizing Miss Mary like that. She liked Miss Mary and she was sure there was an explanation for all this. Miss Jane diverted the conversation to other things. She began to dislike Miss Prim.

    One day, when Miss Jane had finished all her work and she was free she decided to pay Miss Mary a visit. When she went in she saw that Miss Prim was right in some ways that there was dust in some places. She also saw that Miss Mary seemed unwell.

    Miss Mary was delighted to see her and invited her in. When she went in she saw that Miss Prim was right in some ways that there was dust in some places. She also saw that Miss Mary seemed unwell. They talked for a while and then Miss Jane asked Miss Mary to help her in any way around the house.

    “Oh no,” said Miss Mary, feeling somewhat ashamed. “I will get down to it. I am not feeling well just now. I will do it as soon as I can.”

    “Are you always feeling this way?” asked Miss Jane in concern.

    “Yes, I do,” Miss Mary said. “Miss Prim says it’s all in my mind. She says if I will take out the thought that I am not well I will feel alright. I think I am just lazy.”

    “I don’t think you are lazy,” said Miss Jane. “I think you should go and see a doctor.”

    “I will be fine,” said Miss Mary. “Really I will.”

    “No you won’t,” said Miss Jane. “I know a very good doctor. I will make an appointment for you and then you go. I will take you to him, don’t worry.”

    After much persuasion Miss Mary agreed.

    Miss Jane left and got the doctor’s appointment for the next day at nine o’clock in the morning.

    Miss Jane took Miss Mary to the doctor. The doctor examined her and took a blood sample and then he told her to come and see him the next day.

    Again Miss Jane went with Miss Mary to the doctor. The blood results had come and the doctor said Miss Mary had a problem. Then he explained to her why she felt the way she felt. He gave her medicine to take every day for the rest of her life. She would start feeling better gradually.

    Miss Mary was shocked that she had such a disease that she was to take the medicine every day without fail. She almost cried to know that she was not lazy but she had a condition that is why she was unable to work normally.

    As the days went by she started to feel more and more healthy. She also started to lose weight. She was able to work a little more every day. Soon she had cleaned her whole house and now she started on her garden which was in need of a lot of work.

    One day as Miss Mary was working in the garden, Miss Prim came out of her house. Seeing Miss Mary work she went to her.

    “I see you have decided to quit your laziness and do some work,” she scoffed.

    Miss Mary looked at her for a minute.

    “I am not lazy,” she said, “I never was. I have a condition that is why I was feeling all sickly and was not able to work.”

    After saying that she ignored Miss Prim and went on with her work.

    Miss Prim did not like that at all. She went away in a huff with her nose in the air.

    The next day, Miss Mary baked a big cake and iced it beautifully. She made the background white and then put pink roses with green leaves and wrote ‘Thank you’ on it in blue. Then she took it to Miss Jane.

    Miss Jane was delighted to see the cake. She cut it there and then and shared it with Miss Mary.

    From that day onwards Miss Mary and Miss Jane were the best of friends.

    Miss Prim got really jealous when she saw the two friends together and they didn’t even invite her to go out with them. As a matter of fact Miss Mary greeted her when she happened to see but never went to see her as she used to do before. She had found a real friend who did not scoff or make fun of her if she was not feeling well.

Little Miss Attitude

Hello, everyone.

   As I had promised, I am bringing you the story of a little girl with a lot of attitude. By the way, this story is my own creation.

    It is the story of little girl named Rosemary. The way she manipulates others to get her own way.

    Read on find out what she did was the last straw.

Little Miss Attitude

    One day, the children of fourth grade were seated in their class when the head teacher came in with a girl.

    She was about nine years old. She had brown hair and she was very beautiful. She had a very charming smile. The head teacher introduced her as Rosemary.

    “Children, this is Rosemary,” said the head teacher. “She is joining you from today. Please make her welcome.”

    Everybody at once decided to be her friend. Rosemary was told to sit beside a girl named Amanda in the second row. Amanda was a good kind little girl. Everybody liked her and they called her Amy. Amy was pleased to have Rosemary beside her.

    At first Rosemary was friendly with everyone but as the days went by she just talked to a few of the children. Nobody could understand her behaviour. She just ignored most of the children even if they tried to talk to her.

   She was a bright student but not as bright as Amy. Whenever there was homework and there was something she did not understand she would ask Amy. She just talked to Amy when she needed her help.

    There was another student. Her name was Hannah. Hannah came from a rich family but she never showed off or tried to take advantage of anyone. She was a very nice kind jolly girl always ready for a laugh. Everybody liked her.

    Rosemary always tried to be with her. She always tried to make out that she had travelled to many places and she brought expensive things to school. Her uniform was made of a very high quality material, even her shoes were made of pure leather. She had a beautiful backpack which she never let anyone touch. Only Hannah was allowed to do that.

    She always tried to be with Hannah and tell her stories of her travels and such. Hannah was not used to being treated like that and she did not like it one bit. So now she started to avoid her.

    The end of term exams were approaching and everybody was very busy studying. Rosemary was always seen with Amy studying away or so it seemed. In reality Rosemary was hardly letting poor Amy study. She was asking her to listen to her when she recited the notes from her history and geography books. Amy was too timid to tell her to let her study.

    A few days before the exams she went to Amy.

   “Amy, can I talk to you for a moment?” she asked.

    “Sure,” said Amy, reluctantly dreading what she was going to ask.

    “I have a favour to ask you,” she said in a very doleful voice.

    “What is it?” asked Amy concerned now.

    “Well,” Rosemary started when she saw that Amy was concerned. “My father is a very strict man. He always expects me to be the top of my class. If I come second he will be very angry with me and won’t talk to me for many days. He will make me and my mum cry.”

    Hannah was horrified to hear that.

    “What can I do for you, Rosemary?” she asked kindly.

    “Well, it’s hard for me to ask you,” Rosemary said in a small voice, “but can you let me be first? I will be so happy.”

    “Are you asking me to flunk my exam on purpose?” Amy asked, unable to believe what she was hearing.

    “Well, yes in a way,” Rosemary said, “not really flunk but if you just come out second it will be ok.”

    Amy did not know what to say.

    “I will see what I can do,” she said and with that she went.

    Amy’s mind was in a whirl. What was she going to do? What if she came failed completely and then what will her parents say? What will her teachers say? She was a very hardworking girl. Her parents worked very hard to send her to school and provide for her whatever she needed. They were not rich like Rosemary’s parents. She was hoping to work hard and succeed in life so that her parents would have a comfortable life.

    She couldn’t sleep at night worrying as to what to do. Her work suffered in school. She no longer smiled as she did and she always seemed to be in a deep thought.

    Hannah noticed that Amy was no longer the cheerful girl that she used to be and she got worried. So one day she went to her at break and sat down beside her after making sure that Rosemary was nowhere around.

    “Amy, what is wrong?” she asked. “Why do you look worried? What is bothering you?”

    “Oh, it’s nothing really,” she said, turning her head away so that Hannah would not see her tears.

    “Look at me, Amy,” said Hannah. “Please tell me. You have been acting very strange. You don’t smile and laugh as you used to do. Are you not feeling well?”

    “It’s not like that,” said Amy.

    “Then what is it?” asked Hannah. “I am worried about you.”

    After much coaxing it all came out about Rosemary and how her father is strict and all.

    Hannah was horrified to hear all that. Not about Rosemary’s father but about Rosemary’s request. It was such a mean request. Hannah felt angry. She knew that Amy was a very timid girl and Rosemary was taking advantage of her.

   “Amy, you just work hard and do what you have to do,” she said. “Don’t worry about Rosemary. You must know that she is just taking advantage of you.”

    “Oh, but she is not,” said timid Amy, “she told me her father would make her and her mother cry.”

    “It does not look to me like her father is at all like that,” said Hannah. “I have seen him and talked to him. She introduced him to me. Heaven knows why. He did not seem to be one bit strict to me. As a matter of fact both her parents seem to adore her. You just work hard and do your best. Leave the rest to me.”

    “But she is my best friend and I cannot let her down,” Amy said.

    “Look Amy, if she was your real friend she wouldn’t have told you to do such a mean thing,” said Hannah somewhat angrily. “Please don’t ruin yourself. If you will let her come out first this time, she will always tell you to do it. You will ruin your life.”

    Amy felt somewhat relieved that someone knew her secret. She knew that what Hannah said made a lot of sense.

    And so when the exams came around Amy worked really hard. Rosemary did not bother her so much thinking that Amy would let her come out first.

    After a few days the results came out. Amy was top of the class. She had come out first as usual. Rosemary was angry with her friend. She thought she had let her down. Besides she did not even come out second as she had thought. She had come out fifth.

    Rosemary stopped talking to Amy and Amy felt bad that her friend should do this to her after all she had done for her. Seeing Amy looking sad Hannah went to her. She put her arm around her.

    “Good work, kiddo,” she said, goodheartedly. “Don’t look so sad. Rosemary is not a good friend. If she was she would have to congratulate you like the rest of us. It’s good riddance I can assure you. Now cheer up.”

    Amy smiled at her. Now here was a friend who would give you good advice and would not want anything in return. She was also relieved that she had not listened to Rosemary because she was nowhere near the top. She would just have lost her place to someone else. She was happy.

    The school closed and reopened after a month of holidays.

    Hannah went looking for Amy as soon as she arrived to school and went straight to her when she saw her.

    “Hello, Amy,” she said smiling. “You look great.”

    “Hello, Hannah,” she said, giggling. “You look great too.”

    “I say, Amy,” said Hannah, “I have news for you.”

    “What news?” asked Amy curiously.

    “Well, our Rosemary,” she said with a wry face, “is not as rich as she makes herself out to be. It turns out her father works in my father’s factory as a manager. Small world, huh?  And, guess what? She twirls them round her little finger.She is a spoilt brat and wants everyone to do as she pleases. She

has a real attitude even at home. Her father is a very timid man and listens to her every whim. Good thing you did not listen to her.”

    “Wow!” exclaimed Amy. “That is news. Yes, thank goodness I did not listen to her otherwise I would have suffered because of her mean attitude.”

    From that day onwards Amy stayed away from her so called friend Rosemary. She found out that a real friend never asks you for anything that would hurt you. If she had listened to her she would have ruined her life in the long run.