Once upon a time, there lived a shrewd rat. The rat was kind; however, he would always bargain for just about anything. One day while walking along the road, he found a broken branch lying under a tree. The rat put it in his bag to use it for his furnace in winter.

He continued his journey and came across a poor old man trying to light a fire. Around the man were three little girls who were crying. The shrewd rat immediately offered his help to the old man.

The old man who mistook the rat's intents replied, "Of course you can help. My children are hungry and the wood is wet. I cannot build a fire to cook their meager breakfast."

The rat said, "I have some dry branches, which you can use to make a fine blaze."

The thankful old man offered the rat some dough in return. The shrewd rat was happy that he got a week's supply of dough for a dry branch.

He carried on his journey and entered a pottery maker's yard. There he found two boys crying. The rat comforted them and asked, "What is your problem? Perhaps, I can help you."

The elder boy stopped crying and said, "Our parents have gone to the village. They went to bring some rice but won’t be back until evening. We are hungry and don’t know how to cook."

The rat said, “Don’t worry. I have some dough with me. I can share a bit of it so you can make some simple bread.”

The grateful boys gave the rat a shiny little pot in exchange. "It’s our favorite, and we want you to have it for your kindness."

Feeling even more content, the rat continued on his way. Soon, he met a woman sitting under a tree with a basket of fruits, crying softly. The rat asked her what was wrong.

She explained, “My son is sick and wants to eat something cooked in a pot, but I don’t have one!”

The rat, clever as ever, showed her the pot and offered it to her in exchange for some of her juicy fruits.

With a basket full of fruit now, the rat marched on, smiling to himself and proud of his clever trades. Every step brought him something better — from a branch to dough, to a pot, to a basket of fruits!

The rat returned to his cozy hole that evening, full and proud. He whispered, “Bargaining is an art, and today, I painted a masterpiece!”