Once, upon a time on a hot summer day a farmer was ploughing his field to sow the next crop. While ploughing suddenly he heard a large sound under the ground. Actually his pick-axe had hit something under the ground which caused the sound. The harder the farmer hit the ground the greater the sound came Clink! Clink! The farmer was surprised and wondered what could be there inside the ground?
He started digging up the ground carefully with all his strength and was amazed to see two big pots full of gold coins buried there. "So much wealth!" the farmer cried with joy. He had never seen so much treasure in his entire life. The farmer was very happy and decided to take the two gold filled pots home secretly before anybody else saw it. "But that won't be a great idea!" he thought because the farmer had a foolish wife and he feared that his talkative and foolish wife may spread the news around the whole village. 'Once the people come to know about the gold pots, they may think that i have stolen it from somewhere else and may hurt me!" thought the farmer. He was greatly confused as; neither could he leave the treasure there, nor could he take it home.
The farmer thought for a while and came with a plan to test his foolish wife. "I will tell her some story and ask her to keep it a secret. If she obeys me and keeps the secret, I need not fear that she will talk about the treasure." So, the farmer buried the pots of gold again in his field and went home. As soon as he saw his wife, he said, "My dear, Did you hear? The king has a fish inside his belly!" "Is that so?" asked his wife. 'Yes, dear!" said the farmer. "Please keep this a secret and don't let anyone about this". "Of course!" his wife nodded. But the foolish wife wanted to discuss this with her neighbors. That afternoon, as the farmer was taking a nap, his wife went to the neighbors, "Did you hear? The king has a fish inside his belly!” she said.
The news spread across the kingdom. And spreading fast, the news finally reached the to the king himself. The king became very angry and was very upset. He asked one of his courtiers to find out who had been spreading the false rumor.
The courtier went to his friend and asked if he knew about the rumor. Of course! I heard the washer man saying this to me in the morning he said. The washer man, who in turn had heard it from his wife, who in turn had heard it from her sister.... and the chain went on until finally it reached the farmer.
The courtier came back to the palace and informed the king about the farmer who in fact had spread the false news. The king immediately sent his guards to bring the farmer. When the farmer saw the king's guards, he knew his wife had been talking. "What a fool I've been to ask my wife to keep a secret. Now I will have to pay for my foolishness," he thought.
The farmer was bought before the king. "Why did you spread such a silly rumor about me?" asked the king, who was very angry. "Tell me the truth or I shall punish you!" shouted the king. The farmer out of fear decided to tell the truth, " This is the only way I can get away alive," he thought.
"Speak up!" shouted the king. "Why did you spread the rumor?" "I didn't spread the rumor, Your Majesty!" the farmer replied softly. "It was in fact my wife who did it!" "What do you mean?" asked the king. The farmer said, " I wanted to test whether my wife could keep a secret or not. And so I....." "What secret?" the king interrupted. "That I have found two pots full of gold coins!" replied the farmer." TWO POTS OF GOLD COINS!" the king exclaimed. "Where?" Now the farmer realized that once he showed the pots to the king, he would get only a small amount of it as a reward. So, he replied, " I will tell you where it is, your Majesty, but first you must promise me that you will let me take half of the treasure."
The king agreed. The farmer then took the king to his field and showed him the treasure. The king was moved by the farmers honesty" You deserve to keep both pots for speaking the truth, dear farmer," said the king. The farmer was delighted to hear this; he thanked the king and carried his treasure home. Now he had no need to keep it a secret.
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