Once upon a time, there lived an honest, hard-working but a penniless young man. He had a very bad luck. He made all his efforts to earn a decent living for himself but everything went in vain. His bad luck kept him poor. He did not know what to do. Unable to bear his poverty, he decided to visit the temple of Kannon, the goddess of compassion, and pray to her for guidance. The young man kneeled down in the temple and prayed, “O goddess Kannon! I am an honest and hard-working man, but my bad luck follows me everywhere. What should I do to get some money! Please tell me how I can become rich.” The young man prayed for many days. One day, Kannon appeared and said, “Once you leave this temple, take good care of the first thing you touch. It will make you rich. Then go west.”
The Straw
Happily, the young man left the temple. As soon as he left the temple gates, he stumbled upon the stone and fell. His hand touched a piece of straw. Though he thought it to be useless, he picked up a single straw and held it tight. Then, he began walking towards west. As he walked wondering how the straw would make him rich, a horsefly came by. It started buzzing around his face. He caught the fly, tied it to the tip of the straw to play with, and let it continue buzzing about. He then came across a boy who was spellbound by the straw and buzzing fly. The boy asked to have it. The man gave him the straw and in turn the boy’s mother gave him three oranges. He was quite happy to see that a piece of straw had turned into three oranges. He continued walking and came upon a young woman who was feeling very thirsty due to the heat.
The Exchange
The young man did not have any water to give her. So, he gave her the oranges. After eating those oranges, the woman recovered. As a token of thanks, she gave the man a beautiful piece of cloth. The man was delighted, “Three oranges became a piece of cloth.” As he continued walking, he found a man by the side of the road who was having a trouble with his sick horse. “What’s the matter?” he asked. The man told him that he was taking his horse to the market to trade for some cloth, but the horse felt sick. The young man offered his cloth in exchange for the horse. Happy at this deal, the man exchanged his horse for the cloth, and headed back to his village. For the rest of the night, the young man nursed the horse back to health.
The Straw Millionaire
By the next morning, the animal was restored to health. The young man was overjoyed that he had turned the cloth into a horse. Riding his new horse, he continued his journey. He came across a man who was making preparations for his journey and locking up his house. The master of the house saw the horse and said, “I have to go on a journey and I need a horse. Would you exchange it for my house and rice field?” The young man readily agreed, and took possession of the nice home and a large field. He was astonished that a horse had turned into an entire house and a field. The young man became rich after all. Because he gained his wealth with just a piece of straw, people started calling him ‘The Straw Millionaire’.
