Ramesh was a rich but greedy businessman. His relentless problem was a find a safe place to hide his wealth. After giving his problem a lot of thought, he decided to hide the money in his backyard.

 There was a huge banyan tree in his backyard. Ramesh took a pot and put all his money into it. He covered the pot with a piece of cloth. He dug a deep hole near the tree, and buried the pot there. However, Ramesh was always worried that someone might steal his money.

 So, every night, he would dig out the pot, remove the lid, and count the money and he-put it back in the hole. This allowed him to sleep peacefully.

 Now, Ramesh had a suspicious neighbor, Manu. Manu thought, `Ramesh goes to the backyard every night and digs the ground. Why does he do this?’ Manu then decided to keep a close watch on him.

 One night he did behind a tree and kept a close watch on Ramesh. He noticed everything that Ramesh did. The next day, when Ramesh was away, Manu went to his backyard, dug the ground and took out the pot. He had taken all the money and put it in a cloth. He, then filled the pot with pebbles and buried it again.

 As usual, that night Ramesh came to his hiding place to count his money. He dug out the pot and removed the lid. Then he put in his hand to count the money. He was shocked to find the pebbles in it. He began to cry loudly.

 Hearing Ramesh crying, all his neighbors gathered there. Ramesh was inconsolable. To his surprise, the wise village headman also came there. After careful listening to him, he consoled Ramesh and said, `Why are you crying? You need the money only to count it. You did not spend it. Therefore, nothing is lost. The thief has kept for you the pebbles for you to count. For you, there is no difference. You will be able to continue your counting.’