The Greedy Farmer

Long ago there lived a Farmer with a large crop which he sold each year at the market in town. One year, there was a severe drought that dried the land and choked the crops. The Farmer tried many times to grow his seeds, but each time he sowed, they dried and did not break through the earth.

After a time, he said to himself, "I have sowed all the seeds I have, including my seeds in reserve. I shall go into town to buy some more." And so he went into town. But much to his dismay, there were no more seeds to buy, for the drought had been difficult for other farmers as well. All that was left was a small sack of seeds being sold at a price ninefold that of an ordinary bag.

The Farmer became curious and approached the vender, saying, "Vender, what makes these seeds so expensive?" And the vender replied, "These are imbued with a secret magic that allows the sower to grow whatever he so desires."

The Farmer believed the vender and paid most of his wealth to purchase the seeds. He quickly returned to his farm with them and sowed them in the ground that very night, wishing for them to grow into thick, heavy barley stalks.

When the Farmer awoke the next morning, he found that indeed the dry earth had yielded thick and heavy barley stalks. He sent for his farmhands and together they reaped the whole field. That night, the Farmer again sowed the seeds, this time wishing them to grow into a field of cabbage. And lo, the sunrise shone upon hundreds of leafy heads the next morn. Moreover, the bag of seeds was as full as ever.

The Farmer carried on in this way for some time, growing great yields from the dead soil, never emptying the bag of seeds he had bought. When the end of the season had come, the Farmer's granary was full to bursting, and he had sold all his surplus at market so that he was very wealthy.

Then, in the cold of a winter night, Elumel appeared to the Farmer and said, "You have reaped a bountiful harvest even during a drought such as this. Nature moves at a sprinting pace for you, does it not?"

The Farmer replied, "O Fierce Elumel, you are right. O Bold Elumel, I have become as you and bend Nature to my will and cause it to grow as I please. O Verdant Elumel, I cause the plants to live as in a race!"

At that, Elumel said, "So be it, young farmer. Nature's courses shall be swift for you." And the Farmer decayed in his bed, and from his corpse sprouted a tall and wide mango tree whose boughs nearly touched the ground from the weight of their fruit.