The Fisherman’s Neighbour by Idries Shah

When a poor fisherman discovers a priceless gold ring inside a fish, he can’t believe his luck. He takes the ring to the king and is richly rewarded. His nosy neighbour – greedy to get rich himself – tries to find out how the fisherman came by his wealth and spies on him. But the neighbour is partially deaf. And when he tries to replicate the fisherman’s success based on what he thinks he’s overheard, things don’t quite turn out as he’d hoped.

Part of a rich body of literature from Central Asia and the Middle East, The Fisherman’s Neighbour is one of many hundreds of tales collected by the late Afghan author and thinker, Idries Shah.