Long ago, in a small village, there lived a man named Sava. Everyone knew him for being careful—sometimes a little too careful—with his money and his food.
One day, Sava went from house to house asking for rice, and by evening, he had collected quite a lot. After cooking some for dinner, he poured the leftovers into a clay pot. He tied the pot with string, hung it on a peg in the wall, and placed his bed right beneath it.
As he lay down, he couldn’t take his eyes off the pot. “That pot is full of rice,” he thought. “If there is ever a shortage, people will pay a good price for it. I could sell the rice and earn plenty of coins!”
The thought made him smile. Soon his imagination began to run wild.
“With those coins,” he dreamed, “I could buy a pair of goats. In a year, the goats will have little kids, and soon I’ll have a whole herd. When I sell the goats, I can buy cows. The cows will give milk, and I can sell the milk to buy buffaloes. Then, with the buffaloes, I’ll trade for horses. Everyone will admire my fine animals!”
The ideas grew bigger and brighter. “After selling my horses, I’ll have enough gold to build a big house with four wings. People will say, ‘What a wealthy man Sava has become!’ Then a kind family will ask me to marry their daughter. We’ll have a child, and I’ll name him Som.”
Sava closed his eyes, picturing little Som laughing and toddling across the courtyard. “When I sit reading my book, Som will run to me, eager to play. I’ll scoop him up and lift him high in the air. Everyone will smile and say, ‘What a happy family!’”
So lost was he in his daydream that he couldn’t stop acting it out. Sava stretched out his arms as if he were lifting a child, and he kicked his leg in excitement.
CRASH!
The clay pot hanging above him tumbled from the peg and shattered on the floor. The rice spilled everywhere—on his bed, on the floor, even on his hair. Sava sat up, blinking in surprise. Instead of coins, goats, or gold, all he had was a big mess and no rice at all.
For a moment, he frowned. Then, slowly, he began to chuckle. “All those castles in the air—and not one grain of rice left to show for it!”
From that day, Sava remembered an important lesson: dreaming big is fine, but forgetting what you have right now can leave you with nothing but broken pots and spilled rice.
“The Broken Pot” by Nina D. Smith. Published by Bright Bunny Books © 2025. Retelling of “The Broken Pot’” from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, originally published in 1892.
“The Broken Pot” is best for grades 3–5 because its simple plot, playful humor, and clear lesson about daydreaming versus reality are easy for elementary students to understand and discuss.
Discussion Questions
- What big plans did Sava imagine for his pot of rice?
- How did his daydreaming cause him to lose what he already had?
- What lesson can we learn about balancing dreams for the future with appreciating the present?
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