Long ago, in a bustling merchant town, lived a wealthy merchant who was about to embark on a journey to distant lands. Among his possessions was a thick iron rod, valuable to him as a piece of his hard-earned wealth and too cumbersome to carry on his journey. Trusting a longtime friend, he decided to leave the iron rod in his care, saying, "Please guard this rod until I return. It may not look precious, but it holds great worth to me."
Months passed, and finally, the merchant returned from his long travels. He eagerly visited his friend to retrieve the iron rod he had left behind. However, upon asking for it, he noticed his friend looking uneasy. With a false sigh of regret, the friend stammered, "Oh, terrible news! While you were away, mice broke into my storeroom and devoured your iron rod completely!"
The merchant quickly realized his friend was lying, for iron was far beyond the appetite of any mouse. He maintained a calm demeanor and replied, "Ah, well, the world is filled with strange events. Perhaps such a thing could happen." Without revealing his suspicions, he left, devising a plan to teach his friend a lesson in honesty.
The following day, while his friend was out, the merchant returned to the friend’s house and took his young son to a fair in town. When the friend came home and discovered his son missing, he was overcome with worry. His wife informed him that the merchant had taken the boy to the fair, but hours had passed, and they hadn’t returned.
Alarmed, the friend rushed to the merchant's house, pounding on the door. The merchant welcomed him inside with a composed smile and said, "Ah, my friend, I have troubling news. While we were at the fair, a large hawk swooped down, and in a blink, it seized your son and flew away."
The friend’s face twisted with disbelief and anger. "That’s absurd! No hawk could carry away a boy!" he shouted.
The merchant raised an eyebrow and replied, "And yet, my friend, you say that mice could devour a rod of iron. If that is possible, then why not believe that a hawk can carry away your son?"
Realizing the lesson behind the merchant’s words, the friend fell silent, ashamed. Defeated and remorseful, he admitted, "You are right; I deceived you. I sold the iron rod and lied to keep the money for myself."
The two men took the matter to the local king, who, after hearing the story, declared, "If a man claims that mice can eat iron, then he must be prepared to accept that a hawk could carry away a child." He then ordered the friend to pay the merchant the full value of the iron rod.
With justice served, the merchant left the court, feeling both triumphant and vindicated. The tale of the iron-eating mice spread through the town, reminding everyone that deception, however cleverly concealed, often has a way of revealing itself in the most unexpected ways.
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