Once upon a time, a prince made friends with a merchant’s son and the son of a man of learning. Every day they would spend their time playing games or relaxing. The prince refused to learn the art of archery, riding or hunting. At last the king got tired of him and told him that he could not be a good king, as he showed no interest in royal pursuits. The prince, unhappily went and told his friends about what his father had said. 

His two friends were also not happy with their fathers. Thereupon the prince said, “Let us go somewhere and earn some money.” The other friends agreed to him and they together decided to go to the climbing mountain where they might find precious gems. They all liked the idea and set out for the climbing mountain. 

As luck would have it, each of them found a priceless gem. Now they were faced with another problem—the problem of guarding the jewels. The son of the man of learning said, “We should swallow the gems and carry them back in our stomachs.” 

The others agreed and along with their food, they swallowed the gems. Meanwhile a man, hiding behind the bushes, heard their talk and saw them swallowing the gems. He thought of travelling with them and when they went off to sleep, he Would cut their stomach open and take all the gems. With this plan in his mind, he approached them and made friends with them. 

All the four happened to cross a village in the middle of the forest. Now the village chief had a strange bird that began to sing. The chief could understand everything the bird sang. This time too, he understood that the bird was singing about the travellers with precious gems. 

The chief ordered the villagers to catch the travellers and bring before him. He searched them carefully but found nothing. They were freed. The bird sang the same song again. So the same process was repeated thrice. Finally the chief said, “If the bird says that repeatedly, the gems are surely with you, probably in your stomach. Tomorrow morning, I will act open your stomach for the gems. Now the fourth traveller, the one who had originally planned to steal the gems thought, “The chief will also act my stomach in hope of finding a gem. So my death is certain. Therefore, it is best to offer my own stomach first to cut, saving the other three”. 

Next morning, the thief begged the chief to cut his stomach first. The chief agreed but he found no gem in the stomach. Now the chief was full of repentance. The three friends who narrowly escaped death were freed. They quickly crossed the forest till they reached a safer spot.