Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a young man. His life was difficult. Every day, he searched for work to earn money. After working, he would go home, eat a little food, and sleep.
One day, he couldn’t find any work.
Feeling sad, he walked home. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
“Is there someone who can help me?”
the voice asked.
He turned and saw an old man carrying
three heavy bags.
“I can help,” the young man replied.
“I need to go to the next village,”
the old man said. “It’s a long walk. I can carry two bags, but the third one is
too heavy. If you carry it for me, I’ll give you three gold coins.”
The young man agreed and lifted the
heavy bag.
“This is really heavy!” he said.
The old man whispered, “Yes, it’s
filled with bronze coins.”
Even though it was heavy, the young
man walked with the old man. While walking, he noticed the old man kept
watching him.
“He must think I’ll run off with the
bag,” the young man thought. “But I’m not a thief. I want to earn my money
honestly.”
They came to a river. The young man
crossed it, but the old man stayed on the other side.
“I’m too old to cross,” he said. “I
might drown. Can you carry one more bag across? I’ll give you three more gold
coins.”
The young man agreed, but the old man
paused.
“Promise you won’t run away with this
bag,” he said. “It has silver coins.”
“Do I look like a thief?” the young
man said. “I won’t cheat you. Just give me the bag.”
He picked it up and crossed the
river.
Later, they reached a hill. The young
man started to climb, but the old man stopped.
“Why did you stop?” the young man
asked.
“I’m too old. Climbing is too hard
for me,” the old man replied. “Can you carry the last bag too? It has gold
coins, but if you run off, I can’t stop you.”
The young man got upset. “I’ve told
you, I’m honest. I was once a bookkeeper. My boss told me to cheat people, but
I refused and left the job.”
The old man hesitated, then said, “I
don’t know if you’re telling the truth, but take the bag. I’ll follow slowly.”
The young man picked up the bag and
walked on, leaving the old man behind. As he walked, he began to think:
“If I run away with these bags, the
old man can’t stop me. I’ll be rich forever. He’s old—what does he need all
this money for? I’m young. I could live a good life, marry a beautiful woman,
and be respected.”
Tempted by these thoughts, he decided
to run away with the three bags. He ran all the way home. When he got there, he
quickly opened the bags.
To his shock, there were no gold or
silver coins. Only small stones.
“Why did the old man lie?” he
wondered.
In the last bag, he found a piece of
paper. It read:
“I am the king of this kingdom. I
have no children and I am growing old. I was searching for an honest person to
adopt as my child and heir. If you had not run away, you would have become my
successor.”
The young man felt deep regret and
sadness. He had always been honest, but one moment of greed made him act
wrongly. He lost a great chance because he let bad thoughts take over.
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