A Man Called Mouse
In an enduring fable from the Kathasaritsagara, an Indian merchant explains how he acquired his nickname.
Anonymous photo circa 1870, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
A rope merchant in India, from a photograph taken in about 1870. Gunadhya’s tale is about the way that commercial enterprise and competition bring something out of nothing — the gambler’s dream, he says, but one which only hard work and initiative will make a reality. ‘Without a coin in the world I acquired this prosperity. How can the mind help being amazed at pictures without walls?’
Introduction
Gunadhya, sixth-century narrator of this tale from the Kathasaritsagara, was in Pratisthana (Paithan) watching little knots of men in the city conducting their business. They included bookies promising treasure to gamblers, but among the merchants was a man who had a better way to become rich.
‘MY name is Mouse.
‘My father died before I was born, and my mother (whose little all was taken from her by greedy relatives) had to do menial work to support us. But she made sure I learnt my letters, and as soon as I was old enough she sent to me a merchant named Vishakhila, who was known for investing small sums in promising young traders of good family.
‘I entered his shop to find him tearing a strip off a slow-witted youth. “Have you lost it all?” he cried. “Some boys could have made a profit from — from that dead mouse.” He pointed to a corner.
‘Something made me say, “Master, give me that mouse as an advance on my fortune.” Vishakhila stopped, and burst out laughing. So I took the mouse and sold it as cat food in exchange for two handfuls of gram flour.’
