A dejected carpenter once walked along the bank of a lake one evening. He was dejected with life and felt that he was a very unlucky man. It was beginning to get dark. He saw a stone bench under a streetlamp and he decided to sit there for a while.
He looked upwards into the sky and gazed at the moon. He then threw his hands into the air and said, “Oh God, please change my life. I want my life to change for the better and I don’t want to have troubles anymore in life.” A white cat that appeared from nowhere startled him. It sat beside him on the bench. The cat looked at him and started to speak. She said, “Today is your lucky day, young man. I have been sent to you by an angel that flew past just now. She heard your prayer and sent me to help you fulfill your wish. “What!” exclaimed the carpenter. “Am I dreaming?” he asked. “No, you are not dreaming,” said the cat, “Follow me!” she said with a shrill voice and took him to a place where his whole life could change.
The carpenter was absolutely surprised to see a talking cat but he quickly got up and followed her. The cat led him through narrow a path over a nearby wooded hillock and into a cave that was on the other side of it. They walked a few steps into the tunnel and the cat stopped before a heavy door made of stone. The door opened and the carpenter was greeted by an old man in strange clothes. He had long hair. “Come on in you lucky young man,” he said to the carpenter smiling. The carpenter turned around to see if the cat was still there but she seemed to have vanished into thin air.
The old man led the carpenter in and said, “Your life is about to change completely. Walk behind me into that hole in the cave there,” he said pointing to a wide hole in the cave. As they entered, the carpenter noticed a sign that said, “All your wishes fulfilled here”. He gleefully went in. There was a long wooden box which the old man opened. He took a shining double edged sword out of it. He said to the carpenter, “This is a magical sword of fame. It has the power to give you all the fame in the world. Do you want it?” The carpenter thought to himself how amazing it would be to be the most famous man. He could for once put all those men in his village down who always bullied him. The old man asked, “Tell me, do you want it?” The carpenter said, “Well, why not? Hey! But wait. I would like to see what else you have got for me.” The old man smiled at him, put the sword back and led him to the next hole in the cave.
This time the old man showed him a big book. He said, “This is the book of ultimate knowledge. If you possess this book, there will be nothing you don’t know.” The man said, “Wow! That would be great! People will respect me for my knowledge and it would be wonderful to be known as an intellectual and a genius.” The old man smiled again but before he could say or ask anything, the carpenter said in an excited tone, “Hey! Let me see what else you have to show me!” The old man led him into another hole which was quite bright inside.
The old man showed the carpenter a large treasure chest and said, “This treasure chest will never go empty. It is a never ending source of gold and diamonds. All you need to do is to open the box and continue to take the precious stuff from it forever.” The carpenter was thrilled and screamed, “Wow! I think I will take this. If I have wealth, I can get whatever I want!” The old man said, “Well, let me know if you are sure so that I can give the treasure chest to you.” The man thought for a moment and said, “Wait, I guess I need a few minutes to think it over and decide which of the three I could take.” The old man said, “Alright, in that case, you will have to wait outside and get back to me when you have decided.”
The man stepped out and started to think which of the three offers of the old man would be good for him. Just then he heard a heavy rumbling sound behind him and he turned around to see what it was. To his utter dismay, he saw that the heavy door of stone, the cave and everything simply disappeared leaving behind a huge cloud of dust. The possibilty of getting rich was gone.
The cat appeared again before him and this time spoke in a husky voice. She said, “Do you know what? You are just like most humans. They either don’t know what they want or they wish for everything and get nothing. If you really want something, you will most certainly get it, but for that, you should first know what you really want. Good bye,” before the carpenter could say anything, she leaped into a tree and disappeared into the darkness leaving him dumbfounded.
Tavamithram Sarvada 