Suresh Guptha and the flying box

Once upon a time, in the town of Calcutta there lived a merchant called Naresh Guptha. When he was born, his family was very poor. But Naresh was very hardworking. Morning to evening he tried his best to earn money. He succeeded too. He became extremely rich. But Naresh was very careful about his money. He did not spend even a paisa unnecessarily. If there was expenditure, he always asked, “By spending this money, what will I get in return? Will it be useful to me?”. He had a son called Suresh. After a long time, Naresh died. All his money came to Suresh. Suresh did not know the value of money. He spent it unnecessarily. Lot of people gathered round him. They praised Suresh so much that he gave them whatever they asked for. Soon Suresh lost all the money his father gave him. He became so poor, that he did not have anything to eat. At that time a close friend of Naresh gifted a big box to Suresh. Suresh thought that it will contain lot of money. So he wanted to open and see it. But as soon as he opened a carpet came out of it. It asked Suresh, “Master , where can I take you?.” Suresh told the carpet, “Anywhere, where there is food.” The carpet then went inside the box and asked Suresh to sit on the box. As soon as Suresh sat on the box , it started flying. It took him to the town of Gangtok., where food was in plenty. Suresh ate whatever he wanted and became happy. Again Suresh, opened the box. The carpet again came out. It asked him, “Master, where can I take you?” Suresh replied, “I want to earn money. So please take me to a place where I can earn money without much effort.” The carpet went in to the box. Suresh sat on the box and it took him to the town of Mysore. Suresh, enquired from people there about earning money easily. They told him, “It is easy over here. There is a closed palace. Inside there is a princess. She has lot of money. She will give it to a person whom she likes. “ Then Suresh opened the box and ordered it to take him near the princess. It took him there very easily. The princess was very surprised to see Suresh. She asked him , who are you? And what do you want?” Suresh replied, “I am from Calcutta. I want to earn money without working.” The princess replied, “That is very easy. I have lot of money. But my parents will permit me to give this money to you, if you tell them a story. If they like it, then they will ask me to give you as much money as you want, two days later, in the town hall.” Suresh said, “That is very easy. I will come again when your parents are there.” Next day Suresh came again to the closed palace of the princes .Her parents were also there. They told him, “Our daughter told us about you. We are feeling very bored here. If you tell us a good story, we will ask her to give as much money as you want.” Suresh then started telling a story. There was a very big house in Peking. It belonged to a rich man. The rich man and his family had gone for a picnic. Only the house maid was there. She had also gone out to see her friend. At that time all the things in the kitchen were getting bored. The match box which was near the iron pot started talking,” Hey Iron pot. You look so black. I think , you must be from a poor family.” The iron pot replied, “Are you from a rich family? Let us hear your story?” The match box replied, “ In the rich forest of Himalayas there stood a very great Pine tree. All round it were much smaller trees. All the other small trees, called the Pine tree as the “King tree”. The king tree grew very big. One day, a merchant from Calcutta came to that forest. He saw the Pine tree. He purchased the Pine tree and cut it into pieces. The big piece from the trunk was made in to a ship. The smaller pieces were used to build a big house in Calcutta. The smallest pieces were cut uniformly . A red cap was attached to them. We are those pieces with a crown. The king sticks from a king tree.” Then the iron pot replied, “That is very interesting,, I will tell you my story. There was a big village in Bihar called Jharia. Some people from the town went there. They could easily find out that all the rocks of Jharia were iron. So they brought lot of such stones. They crushed and washed all those stones. Then those people started burning those stones. From those came out iron. Then they made iron in to liquid. I was made from that liquid. I think I too am rich like you.” The window curtain of the kitchen , who heard these two stories started talking, “How interesting. My case is very different. There was no burning or cutting in my case. In the small town of Coimbatore, a farmer planted a black seed. From it came the cotton plant. The farmer put lot of manure to this plant. It bore bright yellow flowers. After some time, these flowers became cotton bolls. These bolls dried and burst one day. Out of it my parents, the cotton flew out. The farmer collected all the cotton and then made me.” Suddenly they heard a very loud laugh. This was from whole kitchen. Many things stored in boxes , many vegetables and many fruits stored in the refrigerator started laughing. They all together told, “We have been hearing your story. But we are all different. We grew in different fields all over India. The farmer harvested us separately and packed them in big bags. Such bags were purchased by the merchants. They then packed us in small bags. We were then sold to the master of this house. We are not expecting anything pleasant. We were afraid that ,they will light the stow and boil us. Once we are to their liking they will eat us.” When all the materials in the kitchen were telling their stories, the maid suddenly entered. It was already dark. So she took the match box and lit the only remaining stick .Work started in the kitchen. All the materials in the kitchen became silent. .They were not feeling bored now.” The parents of the princess liked this story very much. They told the princess. “You can give as much as he wants . But it would be after two days and in the town hall exactly at 5 PM. If he does not come at that time, he will not get any money..” Suresh thanked them. He went round many places on his box. He wanted to entertain the people of Mysore. So he brought lot of fire crackers from Shivakasi. On The day when the princess came out of the Palace and went to the town hall. Suresh went to the top of a Chamundi hill and started burning all the crackers. The people of Mysore were very happy to see the wonderful display. Suresh became very proud. But unfortunately the box and the carpet got burnt by the fireworks. Suresh started running towards Mysore. He could not reach the town hall before 5 PM. The princess and her parents again went back to the locked palace. Poor Suresh started working hard every day. After a lot of time he too became as rich as his father.