Once upon a time, a king's adviser saw a dead mouse by the roadside. He remarked to his companions that an energetic young person could build a fortune even from such a small beginning.
A passerby heard this and decided to act. He picked up the mouse and soon sold it to a shopkeeper for two copper coins. With the coins, he bought sweet cakes and water, which he then traded to weary flower pickers for their flowers. He sold the flowers in the city and reinvested the profit, starting a small cycle of trade.
Later, after a storm, he offered to clear fallen branches from the king's garden in exchange for keeping them. He enlisted children to help, paying them with sweet cakes, and then sold the collected wood as firewood to the king's potter for a handsome sum.
With his growing capital, he opened a refreshment shop. He generously offered free cakes and drinks to local grass mowers, earning their goodwill. When a horse dealer arrived with 500 horses, the man secured all the grass from the mowers and sold it at a high price.
Hearing of a foreign ship's arrival, he devised a clever plan. He acquired a valuable ruby ring and gifted it to the ship's captain as an advance commission. In return, the captain directed all passengers to him as their broker. The man then guided the passengers to city merchants, earning commissions from both sides. This successful venture made him very wealthy.
Grateful, he gave half his wealth—100,000 gold coins—to the king's adviser who had inspired him. Astonished, the adviser asked how he had amassed such fortune. The man recounted his journey, starting from the dead mouse.
Impressed by the man's energy and talent, the adviser gave him his only daughter in marriage. After the adviser's death, the man inherited his wealth and position, becoming the richest and most generous man in the city.
The moral is: With energy and intelligence, great wealth can grow from the smallest beginnings.