Once, in a village, there lived a merchant with his wife. After many years of marriage, they were blessed with a son. The spouse grew very happy to get a son. They gratified every wish of their son. The excess of love made him a spoilt boy.
Years passed by and the boy grew up to be a very obstinate and spoilt man. His father tried hard to change him, but couldn’t succeed. His son used to spend his money and just wondered about the whole day.
One day, the merchant called his son and said, “Son, all these years you’ve been wasting my hard-earned money. After my death, all the property and wealth will be yours. But you should prove that you can also earn money on your own.” His son accepted his challenge. After trying many times, he finally got a job. His job was of loading and unloading sacks full of grains from vehicles to the storehouse.
Money’s Worth He worked persistently and carried the sack on his back. At the end of the day, he got only twenty-five rupees. But he felt very happy and handed over that money to his father. His father didn’t utter a word and threw away the money in the well behind their house. The son didn’t say anything. But every day he gave money to his father and his father threw it in the well. This continued for a week. One day, the son grew angry and said, “Father, I work hard every day and you throw my hard-earned money in the wall.”
The father smiled and replied, “Son, finally I made you understand how I felt all these years when you wasted my hard-earned money.” The son realized his mistake and decided to continue his job. He nevermore wasted any money.