In Baghdad, there lived a very poor man. He struggled to make both ends meet by working as a porter or a labourer whenever he could, returning to his house completely exhausted. One night he fell asleep as usual, but was troubled by dreams. In the dream, an old man appeared and said, “What are you doing in Baghdad? You should go to Cairo to seek your fortune!” The man awoke and went about his work as usual, but all day the dream kept coming to his mind. After a few days, he thought he should follow the advice of the old man in his dream. He decided to go to Cairo to seek his fortune. He closed his house and left for Cairo, travelling over land and the sea, reaching the place rather late at night. He knew no one in Cairo and found no inn, so he found shelter in a mosque and fell asleep there.
The Fortune
That night, a band of robbers entered the mosque and climbed over the wall into the neighbouring house to steal. However, the people living there woke up and raised a hue and cry! The robbers ran for their lives. The police arrived but found only the traveller sleeping in the mosque. They arrested the stranger and thrashed him, thinking he was in league with the robbers! For three days, he was put into a prison before being hauled before the Chief of Police. On being questioned, he told him about his dream and how he came from Baghdad to seek his fortune. The Police Chief laughed, “You silly fellow! I have dreamt of a house in Baghdad with a hidden treasure under a fountain! But I didn’t go there to find it. It’s just a dream!” The poor man returned to Baghdad, realising that the house was his own. Digging under the fountain, he found his fortune!
