Price of Well and Water

There used to be a farmer in a village. He used to grow his grains with great hard work and earn his living by selling them. Once he was searching for a source of water for his farm, when he saw a well belonging to his neighbor. He bought that well from that neighbor.

But that neighbor was a very clever person. Therefore, the next day when the farmer came to draw water from his well, the neighbor refused to let him take water.

When the farmer asked the reason, the neighbor replied, “I sold you the well, not the water” and went away from there. Distraught, the farmer went to the emperor to seek justice. He presented his entire story before the emperor.

The king called “Birbal”, one of his nine most intelligent ministers. Now Birbal asked the neighbor, “Why don’t you let the farmer take water from the well? After all, you have sold the well to the farmer?”

To this question the neighbor replied, “Mr. Birbal, I had sold the well to the farmer, but not the water in it. He has no right to draw water from the well.” Now Birbal took some time to find a solution to this situation.

Then after thinking for some time, Birbal said, “Look, since you have sold the well, you have no right to keep water in the farmer’s well. Either you pay rent to the farmer, or remove all the water from the well immediately. Realizing that his plan had failed, the neighbor apologized and went home.

Now the farmer got the well of his right and he thanked Birbal ji for providing him justice in the right way.

Moral:
You will not get anything by cheating someone, but you will have to pay the consequences soon.