The Rat’s Wedding: A Tale of Clever Bargaining

Adapted from Tales of India: Folktales from Bengal, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu

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A Fortunate Shelter

One rainy afternoon, a plump and well-groomed Rat found himself caught in a sudden downpour. Being far from any shelter, he quickly set to work digging a hole in the ground. Soon he had created a snug burrow where he sat comfortably dry while raindrops splashed in puddles outside.

During his digging, the Rat discovered a fine piece of dry root, perfect for fuel. Being naturally thrifty, he set it aside carefully, planning to take it home after the rain stopped. When the shower finally passed, he emerged from his temporary shelter with the dry root held firmly in his mouth.

As he made his way home, delicately picking his path through puddles, he noticed a poor man struggling to light a fire. Around the man stood a small circle of children, crying pitifully.

“Goodness gracious!” exclaimed the Rat, who was both tenderhearted and curious. “What a dreadful noise! What’s the matter?”

“The children are hungry,” replied the man wearily. “They’re crying for breakfast, but all my sticks are damp from the rain. The fire won’t light, so I can’t bake their cakes.”

A Series of Exchanges

“If that’s your only problem, perhaps I can help,” offered the kindhearted Rat. “You’re welcome to this dry root. I guarantee it will soon make a fine blaze.”

The grateful man accepted the root with many thanks. In return, he gave the Rat a small piece of dough as a reward for his generosity.

“What an extraordinarily lucky fellow I am!” thought the Rat as he trotted away happily with his prize. “And clever too! Imagine making such a bargain—enough food to last five days in exchange for an old stick! How wonderful to have such intelligence!”

Continuing on his way and congratulating himself on his good fortune, the Rat soon came upon a potter’s yard. There, the potter had abandoned his spinning wheel to attend to his three small children, who were screaming and crying loudly.

“My goodness!” cried the Rat, covering his ears. “What a noise! Please tell me what’s happening.”

“I suppose they’re hungry,” the potter explained ruefully. “Their mother has gone to the market for flour, as we have none in the house. Meanwhile, I can neither work nor rest because of their crying.”

“Is that all?” replied the helpful Rat. “Then I can assist you. Take this dough, cook it quickly, and satisfy their hunger.”

The potter was overwhelmed with gratitude for the Rat’s kindness. Insisting on giving something in return, he selected a well-crafted clay pot and presented it to the Rat as a token of appreciation.

The Rat was delighted with this exchange. Though the pot was somewhat awkward for him to carry, he managed to balance it on his head after considerable effort. He proceeded carefully down the road, making a gentle tink-a-tink sound, with his tail draped over his arm to avoid tripping. All the while, he kept repeating to himself, “What a lucky fellow I am! And so clever at making bargains!”

The Buffalo Bargain

Soon the Rat came upon some herdsmen tending their cattle. One of them was milking a buffalo but, having no pail, was using his shoes to collect the milk.

“Oh my! How unsanitary!” exclaimed the fastidious Rat, quite shocked at the sight. “What a terribly unhygienic practice! Why don’t you use a proper container?”

“For the simplest of reasons—we don’t have one!” growled the herdsman, annoyed at the Rat’s interference.

“If that’s your only problem,” replied the particular Rat, “please use this clay pot. I simply cannot tolerate such uncleanliness!”

The herdsman gladly accepted the pot and filled it to the brim with fresh milk. Turning to the Rat, who stood watching, he said, “Here, little fellow, you may have a drink as payment.”

But the Rat, though good-natured, was also shrewd. “No, no, my friend,” he said, “that arrangement won’t do! As if I could drink the worth of my pot in one sitting! I couldn’t possibly hold that much! Besides, I never make unfavorable bargains, so I expect you to give me the buffalo that provided the milk.”

“Nonsense!” exclaimed the herdsman. “A buffalo for a clay pot? Who ever heard of such a price? And what would you do with a buffalo anyway? The pot itself was almost more than you could manage.”

The Rat drew himself up with dignity, offended by the reference to his size.

“That’s my concern, not yours,” he retorted. “Your responsibility is to hand over the buffalo.”

For the sake of amusement, and to have some fun at the Rat’s expense, the herdsmen untied the buffalo’s halter and began attaching it to the small animal’s tail.

“No! No!” the Rat protested urgently. “If the buffalo pulled, the skin of my tail would come off! Please tie it around my neck instead.”

Laughing heartily, the herdsmen secured the halter around the Rat’s neck. After politely bidding them farewell, the Rat set off proudly toward home with his prize—or rather, with the rope, for as soon as he reached the end of the tether, he was abruptly stopped. The buffalo, head down and grazing contentedly, refused to move until it had finished eating its patch of grass. Then, spotting another tasty clump in a different direction, it wandered off toward it, forcing the Rat to trot humbly behind to avoid being dragged.

Too proud to admit the truth, the Rat nodded knowingly to the herdsmen and called out, “Goodbye, good people! I’m taking this route home. It might be longer, but it’s much shadier.”

When the herdsmen roared with laughter, he pretended not to notice and continued on his way, trying to look as dignified as possible.

“After all,” he reasoned to himself, “when one owns a buffalo, one must attend to its grazing needs. An animal must eat well if it’s to produce good milk, and I have plenty of time at my disposal.”

The Bride’s Palanquin

All day long, the Rat trotted behind the buffalo, maintaining his pretense. By evening, he was exhausted and felt genuinely thankful when the massive animal, having eaten its fill, lay down beneath a tree to chew its cud.

Just then, a wedding procession appeared. The bridegroom and his friends had apparently continued to the next village, leaving the bride’s palanquin to follow. The bearers, being lazy, saw the shady tree and decided to set down their burden and prepare some food.

“What deplorable stinginess!” complained one bearer. “A grand wedding, and nothing but plain rice pottage to eat! Not a morsel of meat in it, neither sweet nor savory! We should dump the bride in a ditch to teach those misers a lesson!”

“My goodness!” exclaimed the Rat, immediately seeing an opportunity to resolve his predicament. “That’s terrible! I sympathize with your feelings completely. If you’d like, I’ll give you my buffalo. You can slaughter it and cook the meat.”

“Your buffalo?” scoffed the disgruntled bearers. “What nonsense! Whoever heard of a rat owning a buffalo?”

“It’s uncommon, I admit,” replied the Rat with evident pride, “but look for yourselves. Can’t you see that I’m leading it by a rope?”

“Never mind the rope!” declared a particularly hungry bearer. “Owner or not, I intend to have meat with my dinner!”

With that, they killed the buffalo and cooked its flesh, enjoying a satisfying meal. Afterward, they casually offered the leftovers to the Rat, saying, “Here, little Rat, this is for you!”

“Now listen here!” protested the Rat indignantly. “I’ll have none of your pottage or your scraps. Do you imagine I would trade my finest buffalo, which produced gallons of milk—the buffalo I’ve been tending all day—for a tiny portion of rice? Certainly not! I exchanged a stick for a loaf; I traded a loaf for a clay pot; I bartered a pot for a buffalo; and now I’ll have the bride for my buffalo—the bride, and nothing less!”

The Princess Bride

By this time, the bearers, having satisfied their hunger, began to consider the consequences of their actions. Growing alarmed, they concluded it would be wisest to escape while they could. Leaving the bride in her palanquin, they scattered in various directions.

The Rat, finding himself in possession of the palanquin, approached it and drew aside the curtain. With the sweetest voice and most elegant bow, he invited the bride to step down. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, but since any company—even a Rat’s—seemed preferable to being abandoned in the wilderness, she did as he requested and followed her small guide, who set off as quickly as possible toward his home.

As he trotted alongside the beautiful young bride, whose rich attire and sparkling jewels suggested she might be a princess, he kept repeating to himself, “How clever I am! What excellent bargains I make!”

When they reached his hole, the Rat stepped forward with impeccable politeness and said, “Welcome, madam, to my humble abode! Please enter, or if you prefer, I’ll lead the way since the passage is somewhat dark.”

He scurried in first, but after waiting a while and finding the bride didn’t follow, he poked his nose out again, asking irritably, “Well, madam, why aren’t you coming in? Don’t you know it’s impolite to keep your husband waiting?”

“My good sir,” laughed the lovely young bride, “I simply cannot fit into that tiny hole!”

The Rat coughed, then after a moment’s reflection replied, “There’s some truth in your observation—you are rather large, and I suppose I’ll need to build you a shelter elsewhere. For tonight, you can rest under that wild plum tree.”

“But I’m so hungry!” lamented the bride.

“Dear me! Everyone seems to be hungry today!” remarked the Rat peevishly. “However, that’s easily remedied—I’ll fetch you some supper immediately.”

He darted into his hole, returning promptly with an ear of millet and a dried pea.

“There!” he announced triumphantly. “Isn’t that a splendid meal?”

“I can’t eat that!” whimpered the bride. “It’s barely a mouthful! I want rice pottage, cakes, sweet eggs, and sugar candies. I’ll starve without them!”

“Oh dear!” exclaimed the Rat angrily. “What a nuisance a bride is! Why don’t you eat the wild plums?”

“I can’t survive on wild plums!” protested the weeping bride. “Nobody could! Besides, they’re only half-ripe, and I can’t reach them.”

“Nonsense!” declared the Rat. “Ripe or unripe, they’ll have to do for tonight. Tomorrow you can gather a basketful, sell them in the city, and buy all the sugar candies and sweet eggs your heart desires!”

A Royal Reunion

The next morning, the Rat climbed the plum tree and nibbled at the stems until the fruit fell into the bride’s veil. Though the plums were unripe, she carried them to the city, calling through the streets:

“Green plums for sale! Green plums for sale! A princess am I, though a Rat’s bride as well!”

As she passed the palace, her mother the Queen heard her voice and rushed out to recognize her daughter. Great celebrations followed, for everyone had believed the poor bride had been devoured by wild animals.

During the festivities, the Rat, who had followed the Princess at a distance and grown concerned about her prolonged absence, arrived at the palace door. He sent in a polite message requesting his bride’s return.

“Return!” exclaimed the Queen when she heard this. “My daughter shall not return for any rat in the kingdom! She will marry a prince, as she deserves!”

But the Princess, being kind-hearted, said, “Mother, I cannot break my promise to the Rat, who showed me kindness when I was abandoned in the wilderness. Let’s try to compensate him. He’s a skilled negotiator—perhaps he would accept a sack of gold for me.”

So the Rat was brought in, and the Queen offered him a sack of gold. But the Rat was too proud for such an arrangement.

“No, Your Majesty,” he declared, “I am a Rat of my word. I made a bargain, and I’ll honor it. I exchanged a stick for a loaf; I traded a loaf for a clay pot; I bartered a pot for a buffalo; and I acquired a bride for my buffalo. I wouldn’t accept a thousand sacks of gold for my bride!”

Then the King spoke up, “Well, Rat, you are indeed an impressive fellow. Here’s what we’ll do: You shall marry my daughter properly and become my heir.”

A Happy Ending

And so the Rat married the Princess in a grand ceremony, and they lived happily ever after. The Rat became a great king, ruling wisely and well. Throughout the kingdom, people would say, “What a clever Rat he is! And what remarkable bargains he makes!”

This delightful tale from India reminds us that cleverness, persistence, and a talent for negotiation can lead to unexpected success, even for the smallest among us.