Story Summary
A poor but clever farmer from Madhya Pradesh strikes unexpected treasure - two large pots of gold buried in his field. Afraid to trust anyone with the secret, he devises a sly test for his wife. When the plan backfires and he is summoned before the king, the farmer's quick thinking and brave honesty end up earning him a reward far greater than he ever imagined.
Full Story
Once, a farmer was ploughing his field when suddenly his pick-axe hit something under the ground. "Clink!" came the sound. "What could it be?" the farmer wondered.
He carefully dug up the ground and was amazed to see two big pots full of gold coins buried there. "So much wealth!" the farmer cried with joy. He had never seen so much treasure. He decided to take it home before anybody else saw it.
But then a thought stopped him. "That won't be a good idea!" He feared his talkative wife might spread the news around. "Once the people come to know about it, they will be after me!" thought the farmer. He was in a dilemma: neither could he leave the treasure there, nor could he safely take it home.
So he planned to test his wife. "I will tell her something and ask her to keep it a secret. If she obeys me and keeps the secret, I need not fear that she will talk about the treasure." So the farmer buried the pots of gold again and went home.
As soon as he saw his wife, he said, "Did you hear? The king has a tortoise inside his belly!" "Is that so?" asked his wife. "Yes, dear!" said the farmer. "Please keep this a secret." "Of course!" his wife nodded.
But it was not to be. That very afternoon, as the farmer was taking a nap, his wife hurried to the neighbours. "Did you hear? The king has a tortoise inside his belly!" she said.
The news spread - and spreading fast, it finally reached the palace and the king himself. The king was very upset and asked one of his courtiers to find out who had been spreading the rumour.
The courtier had heard it from his friend, who in turn had heard it from the washerman, who had heard it from his wife, who had heard it from her sister... and the chain went on until it finally reached the farmer.
The king sent his guards to bring the farmer. When the farmer saw the king's guards, he knew at once that his wife had been talking. "What a fool I've been to ask my wife to keep a secret. Now I will have to pay for my foolishness," he thought.
The farmer was produced before the king. "Why did you spread such a silly rumour about me?" demanded the king, who was very angry. "Tell me - or I shall have you beheaded!"
The farmer was terribly frightened. He decided to tell the truth. "This is the only way I can get away alive," he thought.
"Speak up!" shouted the king. "Why did you spread the rumour?"
"I didn't spread the rumour, Your Majesty!" the farmer replied softly. "It was my wife who did it!"
"What do you mean?" asked the king.
The farmer explained, "I wanted to test whether my wife could keep a secret or not. And so I told her a false story..."
"What secret?" the king interrupted.
"That I have found two pots full of gold coins!" replied the farmer.
"TWO POTS OF GOLD COINS!" the king exclaimed. "Where?" Now the farmer knew that once he showed the pots to the king, he would receive only a meagre sum as a reward. So he replied calmly:
"I will tell you where it is, Your Majesty - but first you must promise me that you will let me take half of it."
"I promise!" said the king.
The farmer then took the king to his field and showed him the treasure. The king, deeply impressed by the farmer's courage and candour, smiled warmly and declared: "You deserve to keep both pots for speaking the truth, dear farmer."
The farmer was overjoyed. He thanked the king and carried his treasure home. And now, at last, he had no need to keep it a secret.
Moral of the Story
Honesty is the best policy. The farmer's willingness to tell the complete truth, even when facing punishment, ultimately won him a reward far beyond what cunning alone could have achieved. The story also reminds us that secrets kept carelessly can cause unexpected harm, and that clever problem-solving must be balanced with trust.
Key Characters
- The Farmer: Clever, resourceful, and ultimately brave.
- The Farmer's Wife: Well-meaning but unable to resist sharing exciting news
- The King: Initially furious, the king proves to be a fair and generous ruler who rewards truth over cunning.
Why Kids Love This Story
- The plan to test the wife backfires spectacularly - children love the unexpected chain reaction of gossip spreading!
- The farmer is neither a prince nor a wizard - just an ordinary man who uses his wits, making him instantly relatable.
- "The king has a tortoise in his belly!" - the silliness of the test makes kids giggle and remember the story long after.
- The story mirrors everyday experiences - keeping a secret, gossip at school - so children instantly see themselves in it.
- Good triumphs, honesty is rewarded, and the farmer gets BOTH pots - the best possible fairytale resolution.
FAQs About the Story
Where does this folk tale come from?
"The Secret" is a traditional oral folk tale from Madhya Pradesh, a state in central India. The region has a vibrant storytelling heritage, with tales often centred on village life, clever common people, and lessons about human nature.
Why did the farmer spread a rumour about the king?
The farmer didn't intend to cause trouble - he invented the absurd rumour as a test of his wife's ability to keep a secret. He reasoned that if she couldn't keep even a silly story private, she certainly couldn't be trusted with news of real buried treasure.
How does the king reward the farmer?
The farmer initially negotiated to keep half the gold in exchange for revealing the location. But the king, moved by the farmer's honesty and cleverness, gave him both full pots as a reward for telling the truth.