The Honest Merchant of Seri

A poor, once-wealthy family had fallen so far that they had nearly forgotten the true value of an old, dust-covered bowl handed down through generations — in truth pure gold, though tarnished enough to look like ordinary brass.

A traveling merchant, greedy and quick-eyed, recognized the gold at once but said nothing, offering only a pittance for it, hoping to swindle the family entirely before anyone else discovered its worth. Something about the transaction bothered him just enough that he left to "check his accounts" first, planning to return and pay even less.

While he was gone, a second, honest merchant passed the same house and, examining the bowl carefully, told the family plainly what it truly was and paid them its full, fair value on the spot. When the greedy merchant returned, ready to cheat them, he found the family already fairly paid and the golden bowl long gone — his own greed, in trying to squeeze out one more advantage, having cost him the entire fortune he had tried to steal.