The Rat, the Money, and the Broken Promise
In a small West African village, there lived a poor couple. They were so poor, they could barely afford one meal a day. Their only treasure was an old wooden bowl passed down from the husband’s father.
One evening, they ate together with their hands (they owned no spoons or plates). As the husband counted his earnings from work, food crumbs stuck to the money. He didn’t care—this was normal for him.
The next morning, he panicked. The money was gone!
“Did you take it?” he asked his wife.
“No!” she snapped, hurt by the accusation.
“We’re the only ones here! No children, no visitors—it must be you!” he shouted. He threatened to kick her out if she didn’t return the money by evening.
When he returned, she still had no answers. Furious, he yelled, “I won’t live with a thief!” and sent her back to her parents’ house.
Alone that night, the husband sat staring at a rat hole near the door. Something colorful caught his eye inside the hole. He reached in—and pulled out the missing money! Rat teeth had torn the edges of the notes, which still smelled of food from his dirty hands the night before.
“Oh God… the rat stole it!” he cried.
The Sage’s Wisdom
When the village elder heard the story, he shook his head. “The rat didn’t break your marriage—your anger did. Poverty is hard, but suspicion is poison. If you can’t afford tiles to block rat holes, at least buy a rat trap!”
He added: “A man who blames others before checking rat holes deserves neither wife nor wisdom.”
End with a proverb
“A rat hole in the wall is easier to fix than a hole in the heart.”
Get rat trap👇
— https://amzn.to/4kdsDa8
