A married woman tells her friend that she has maintained her weight within a healthy BMI range. She lives a comfortable life in a ten-marla house with her in-laws, while her husband works abroad. The other woman, in a self-satisfied tone, says that she has gained a healthy amount of weight while living in a three-marla house with her husband, who holds a government job. The second woman had, in fact, taken the mention of the ten-marla house as a sideswipe at her. She then told a story to the first, claiming to reveal the secret behind her weight loss.

Once, a king, wishing to test the acumen of his ageing wazir, gave him a goat and ordered that it be fed continuously without gaining any weight. The task seemed impossible. If the goat was fed, it would gain weight, and if it was starved, the wazir would fail the king's command. Puzzled and under pressure, the wazir was at his wits' end. In the final hours of the night, as he lay staring at the starry sky, he found his........

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