A man had to go on a long travel. He hid his
money in a pot and put butter over it. So nobody could see what was under the
butter in the pot.
Then he took the pot to his neighbor and said: "Please keep this pot of
butter for me until I come back." He did not say anything about the money
in the pot.
A month passed, two months passed, but the traveler did not come back. His
neighbor thought: "I am afraid the butter in that pot is bad."
And he took all the butter out of the pot and saw the money there. He took the
money for himself and put many small stones into the pot in place of the money.
When the traveler came back, he asked his neighbor for the pot. He carried it
home and took out all the butter. He wanted to take the money, but he found only
many small stones under the butter.
He was very angry. Then one of his friends came to see him.
"You look angry, my friend! Why are you angry?" asked his friend.
"Oh, I am a silly man!" And he told his friend the story about the pot
of butter, the money and the small stones.
"Well, I can show you how to get your money back. Let us go to the
forest."
And the two friends went to the forest, caught a monkey there and brought it
home.
"Now you go to your neighbor and say, "Please let your son come with
me to the market. He can help me carry food from the market."
The man did so. The neighbor sent his son to the man. But they did not go to the
market. The man went home with the neighbor's son and locked the boy in his
house.
The friend said: "Now go to your neighbor with the monkey and say: 'Here is
your son.'"
The man did so. The neighbor was very angry. "Take that monkey away and
bring back my son!" he said.
"Why, this is your son! If money can turn into small stones, then a boy can
turn into a monkey."
The neighbor understood everything. He brought the money, and the man let the
boy go back to his father.
The man thanked his clever friend very much. He wanted to give him part of the
money, but the friend did not take it.
"We are friends, are we not?" he said. "And friends always help
each other, but never take money for that. Never, never.!"