Once upon a time, there lived a widow who had no relatives. She neither had a husband nor children. She stayed in a grass thatched hut in the countryside all by herself. Whenever it rained, the small mud house leaked. This widow was poor with no property other than a little pot and a hoe. She wore rags because she could never afford new clothes. One very hot day, a young man stopped by the widow’s hut to ask for drinking water. After drinking, the man told the widow to make a wish. She wished to have a big, descent house and have nice new clothes. Immediately, a well built house with tiles appeared and she was wearing nice new clothes. The poor widow was very happy. She forgot to even thank the young man who made her wish come true. One day she was sweeping her compound when she started complaining about the new house. “This house is very small, I want a very big house with a fence,” she mumbled. The next day, she woke up and was in a huge mansion with a concrete fence around it. There was a beautiful compound with big trees and colourful flowers. The widow was not satisfied. Again, she wished for a palace where she would be queen with very many servants. Her wish came true and she was the queen of a palace. There was a band playing for her ‘long live queen’. She was excited about everything, but she still wanted more. “These servants are not enough, I want to have more and many camels too,” she complained. When she woke up the next day, she was wearing rags in her mud hut. Her only possessions were a small pot and a hoe. She was sad and cried a lot. The young man appeared again and told her that no one can satisfy her needs because she never appreciates anything but keeps asking for more. The widow remained poor and learnt to appreciate any good thing done for her. Ends
