I was poor, but worse than poor, I couldn’t keep any money in my pockets. I had borrowed from a banker who was charging me interest, and my debt had tripled. Business was bad, I couldn’t sell my oil, and I couldn’t pay the banker. He kept coming round to my house every evening, and he was becoming so violent that I had begun to fear for my life. I wanted to escape but how? I couldn’t fly off with my wife and daughter in tow, so I decided to leave everything behind.
I slipped out of the city in the night, not knowing where I was going. After awhile I came to a well by the wayside where a giant peepul tree stood. I was tired so I decided to climb up in it and rest for the night. I curled myself in its comfortable branches and fell asleep. While I slept, some spirits who were roaming the place, picked up the tree and flew it off to a far away shore where no creature lived. Then they set it down.
I woke to find myself in the midst of a forest that stood by the seashore. As I collected my senses, I caught sight of twinkling lights, here and there, flashing like little fires in the night. They moved all around me, so I decided to grasp one. It was a sparkling red stone, scarcely smaller than a walnut. I collected a few and put them in my pocket, and then, just before daybreak, the tree picked itself up from its roots and flew me back to the well by the wayside!