Once upon a time, there was a very poor man. He had a wife and twelve kids, but not even one penny! The poor kids were always crying because they were hungry. The man and his wife didn’t know what to do. Finally, the man got super mad at God. He said, “God is so unfair! He gives me lots of kids, but no money!” So, he decided to go on a trip to find his luck.

In the jungle, he saw a camel with two big bags of gold on its back. This camel belonged to a king. It was traveling with other camels and the king’s helpers to another place, carrying the bags of gold. Every night, they stopped to rest and started again early in the morning. But one morning, the helpers forgot to take this camel! The camel also forgot the way home. The bags were strapped on too tight for the camel to take them off. So, it wandered around the jungle with the bags on its back for twelve whole years! The camel asked the poor man where he was going. “I’m going to find my luck, to ask why I’m so poor,” he said. The camel said, “Ask it why I’ve had to carry these two bags of gold for twelve years! I haven’t been able to lie down, eat, or drink!” “Okay,” said the man, and he kept walking.

Then he came to a river and saw an alligator. The alligator carried him across the river. When they got to the other side, the alligator asked where he was going. The man said, “I’m going to find my luck, to ask why I’m so poor.” “Then,” said the alligator, “ask it why I’ve had a burning feeling in my tummy for twelve years!” “I will,” said the man.

He walked and walked until he found a tiger lying on the ground. It had a big thorn stuck in its foot. This tiger had gone hunting for food one day. He wasn’t watching where he was going and stepped on the thorn, which went right into his foot. God got very angry and said, “Because you’re so careless and don’t look where you’re going, this thorn will stay in your foot for twelve years!” “Where are you going?” the tiger asked the man. “I’m going to find my luck, to ask why I’m so poor. Someone told me my luck was very, very far away, a twelve-year trip from my home. They said it was lying down, and I need to take a big stick and hit it really hard!” “Ask it,” said the tiger, “why I’ve had this thorn in my foot for twelve years and can’t get it out, even though I’ve tried!” “Yes, I will,” said the man.

Then he came to the place where everyone’s luck lives. The lucks are stones, some standing up and others lying down. “This must be mine,” he said. “It’s lying down, that’s why I’m so poor!” He took the big stick he had and hit the stone again and again. But it didn’t move. It was getting dark, so he stopped hitting it. God sent a spirit into the poor man’s luck, and it became a person! The person looked at the poor man and said, “Why did you hit me so much?” “Because you were lying down, and I’m very poor. My wife and kids are starving at home!” “Oh, things will be good for you now,” said the luck person, and the man felt happy. He said to his luck, “On the way here, I met a camel who’s been carrying two heavy bags of gold for twelve years. It wants to know why it has to carry them.” “Oh,” said the luck person, “just take the bags off its back, and it will be free!” “I will,” said the poor man. “Then I met an alligator who’s had a burning feeling in its tummy for twelve years.” The luck person said, “In its tummy is a very big ruby, as big as your hand. If the alligator throws up the ruby, it will feel better.” “Next, I met a tiger who’s had a big thorn in its foot for twelve years and can’t take it out.” “Pull it out with your teeth!” said the luck person. Then God took the spirit away, and the luck became a stone again, standing up on the ground.

The man started his trip home. He came to the tiger. “What did your luck say?” asked the tiger. “Give me your foot, and I’ll take out the thorn,” said the poor man. The tiger put out its foot with the thorn. The man pulled out the thorn with his teeth! It was a very big thorn, as big as the man’s hand! The tiger felt thankful to the poor man. It was very rich because it had eaten many kings and people and taken all their money. It said to the man, “I’ll give you some gold for your kindness.” “You don’t have any money,” said the man. “I do!” said the tiger. It went into its den, and the poor man followed. “Give me your cloth,” said the tiger. The man put it on the ground. Then the tiger took lots of gold and jewels and filled the cloth. The poor man picked up his cloth, thanked the tiger, and went on his way.

Then he met the alligator, who carried him across the river. The alligator said, “Did you ask your luck why there’s a burning feeling in my tummy?” “I did,” said the man. “It’s because you have a very big ruby in your tummy. If you throw it up, you’ll feel better.” The alligator threw the ruby out of its mouth. Right away, the burning feeling in its tummy stopped! “Ah,” said the alligator, looking at the ruby, “I swallowed that one day when I was drinking!” It gave the ruby to the man, saying, “For your kindness, I’ll give you this ruby. It’s a very precious stone!” (Long ago, every king had a ruby like this. Now, very few kings have one.) The poor man thanked the alligator, put the ruby in his cloth, and went on his way.

He came to the camel. The camel said, “Did you ask your luck why I have to carry these two bags of gold?” “I did,” said the man. He took the bags off the camel’s back. The camel felt so happy and grateful! “You’re so kind!” it said to the man. “Now I can eat, drink, and lie down! Because you’ve been so kind to me, I’ll give you the two bags of gold. I’ll carry them and your bundle home for you. Then I’ll come back and live here in the jungle.” The poor man put the two bags of gold and his bundle on the camel. The camel carried them to his house. When they got there, he took the bags and his bundle off the camel. The camel thanked him again for his kindness and went back to the jungle, feeling very happy to be free from its heavy load.

When the poor man’s wife and kids saw the gold, jewels, and the ruby, they cried, “Where did you get these?” The man told them his whole story. He bought food for his wife and kids. He gave them a beautiful house and bought them clothes. Now he was very rich!

Another poor man, who wasn’t quite as poor as this man had been, asked him where he got his riches. “I got them out of a river,” answered the man. “I pulled up water with a bucket, and every bucket was full of gold!” The other man went to the river and started pulling up water in a bucket. “Stop, stop!” cried an alligator, who was the king of the fish. “You’re taking all the water out of the river, and my fish will die!” “I want money,” said the man. “I can’t find any, so I’m taking the water out of the river to get some.” “You’ll have some in a minute,” said the alligator. “Just stop taking the water!” A big wave of water splashed onto the land and back into the river. It left behind a big pile of gold! The man picked it up happily. The next day, he came again. Day and night, he pulled water out of the river. Finally, the alligator got very angry. It said, “My fish will all die without water! I gave that man a pile of gold once, but he wants more! I won’t give him any!” The alligator stuck its head out of the river and swallowed the man whole! The man lived in the alligator’s tummy for four days and four nights. At the end of the fourth night, the king of the fish said to him, “I’ll let you out of my tummy if you promise not to tell anyone what happened to you. If you do, you’ll die right away!” The man jumped out of the alligator’s mouth and walked toward his house. On his way, he met some men and told them what had happened. As soon as he got home, he told his wife and kids. The moment he did, he went crazy and couldn’t talk. Blood came out of his mouth, and he fell down dead.