Once upon a time, there was a merchant’s son named Jeev. Jeev wasn’t very lucky with his business. He lost all his money!

Jeev decided to travel to a new place to try and get lucky again. He had a special iron scale from his family, but he needed money for his trip. So, he borrowed money from a nearby merchant and left his scale as a promise to pay back the money.

Jeev’s trip went well! When he came home, he went to the merchant to get his scale back. But the merchant said, “The rats ate your scale!”

Jeev knew the merchant was lying. He said, “If rats can eat iron, then anything is possible!” He asked the merchant’s son to help him carry his things to the river so he could take a bath.

After his bath, Jeev took the merchant’s son to a cave, hid him inside, and blocked the entrance with a big rock! Then he went back to the merchant.

The merchant asked, “Where’s my son?” Jeev said, “A big bird, a flamingo, flew down and carried him away!” The merchant was angry and didn’t believe him. He took Jeev to the village elder to complain.

The elder also didn’t believe Jeev. Jeev said, “If rats can eat iron, why can’t a flamingo carry a boy?”

The elder was surprised! Jeev told the whole story. Everyone laughed at the merchant who had been tricking Jeev. The elder made the merchant return Jeev’s scale and get his son back from the cave.

And that’s how Jeev got his scale back! Sometimes, a little trickery is needed to be fair.