The merchant's daughter
There was a merchant who was a very good man. He was very nice and very kind and everybody liked him and appreciated him. He was also very well known as a philanthropist.When his wife died, he lavished all his affection and love on his only daughter. The daughter also lavished much affection and love on her father. When the daughter came of age, the father wanted to find a suitable person for her to marry.
The daughter told him, “Oh, I have already chosen my future husband. In fact, I am in love with him.”
The father was surprised. He said, “Please let me meet the young man.”
After the father met the young man, he said to his daughter, “He seems to be a good person, but how can I trust him since I haven’t known him very long? The best thing is for me to observe him for six months. If I am pleased with him, then you can marry him. Even if I am not pleased with him, if you still love him, there is every possibility that I will allow you to marry him. Since you are my only daughter, my love for you is blind.”
Now the father had three or four ships, which he used to import and export merchandise. One day he came to his daughter and the young man shedding bitter tears. He told them, “There was a hurricane and two of my ships have sunk. I have lost thousands and thousands of rupees’ worth of merchandise! What am I going to do? Soon the people who paid me for the merchandise that they ordered will start asking me for their money back, and I have nothing to give them.”
Just as he had said, his clients started coming to his house and asking him to return the money they had paid in advance. The merchant was in a very deplorable financial situation.
After a few days the young man said to him, “I am so sorry that this has happened. You are suffering so much. When my father died he left me a small estate with a large house. I am going to sell my estate and also my house and give you all the money. I don’t want you to be embarrassed like this. I want you to be happy and I want your daughter to be happy. Please don’t feel that I am trying to bribe you in any way. What I have I will give you, but you are under no obligation to give your daughter to me.”
The merchant immediately shook hands with the man and said, “You are the only one who deserves my daughter. This whole story about my ships sinking was all lies. My ships are in good condition, and those people who came to me for money are my friends. It was all a plot to test you, and you have indeed passed the test.”
So the merchant’s daughter and the young man were married, and the family was very, very happy.
