A certain king and two body- guards. Both were equally efficient. One night the king fell asleep while relaxing in the gar- den. The whole night passed. The two young men stood guard on him without a wink of sleep.
The king was very happy. He announced that both were promoted to the ranks of gov- ernors over two regions of the kingdom. The young men howed to the
king and thanked him profusely. “Are you happy?” asked the king.
“We are immensely happy. Before this nobody at our young age had held such important position,” they said.
“I know. What do you think to be the cause of your promo- tion?” asked the king. “My good luck, Your Majes- ty!” answered the first young
man. “Your kindness, Your Majes- ty!” answered the second young man.
“Good, good,” said the king. Just then a servant brought to the king a bunch of bananas and a pineapple. They were the first produce of a new orchard.
“You two are equally dear to me. These two items being the first yields from a new orchard, they have a special value.
I give these two items to you two,” said the king. He called for two embroidered bags. In one bag he put the banana bunch and gave it to the first young man. In the other bag he put the pineap- ple and gave it to the second young man.
The two young men thanked the king and left for their homes. On the way the second young man told the first “My friend, my wife is allergic to pineapple. Will you exchange your bunch of banana for my pineapple?”
“Gladly,” said the first young man. They exchanged the bags.
In the evening the first young man came running to the king and asked him, “My lord, has your diamond ring slipped off your finger?”
“Well, ah I’m afraid it has!” said the king.
“Here it is. I found it in my gift bag!”
“Your gift bag?” the king asked with some surprise.
My lord, at my friend’s re- quest I changed my bag for his. At home I opened it and found the ring along with the pineap- ple. I knew that it must have slipped off your finger!”
“Please keep the ring. Treat it as a gift from me,” said the king. The young man thanked him and went away.
The king told the queen, “I got a lesson today. The first young man said that it is his luck that got him the promotion. The second young man said that it was my kindness that got him the promotion.
Though I really like both of them equally, the second young man’s answer flat- tered me and I slipped my ring into his bag. Now I realise how strong was the first young man’s faith in his good luck! His luck stole a march on my favour!”
TWO FRIENDS- A Beautiful Story
Gokul and Raj were two friends. Both worked hard for a living.
One day the two friends were on their way to the town. Said Raj, “I wish we could lay our hands on some hidden property. That would make us rich overnight.”
“And idle overnight too!” commented Gokul, “My friend, work brings us not only some money, but also a lot of experien- ces. Unearned money is known to have spoilt many people,” he added.
They were amidst their discus- sion on the virtues.and vices of becoming rich overnight when their eyes fell on a bag lying on the road. Raj picked it up and opened it.
There were gold coins inside it. He counted. They were
a hundred. Bursting with joy, Raj said, “My friend, our misery comes to an end. We can begin our lives anew with fifty gold coins each!”
“Raj, it seems a cart has just passed by. This bag has fallen from it. It should not be difficult to find out who has driven to the next village or to the town before us. We must restore his money to him!” said Gokul.
“Gokul! It is foolish of you to think of finding out the owner of the money. Destiny has given this to us. We should be happy with this fact,” said Raj.
“Should we not be unhappy with the fact that destiny has deprived someone else of a hundred gold coins?” asked Gokul.
“I don’t wish to argue with you. Here is your share of the money,” said Raj as he pushed fifty coins tied in his handker- chief into Gokul’s hand. Gokul accepted it.
In the next few days there was a marked change in the lifestyle of Raj. He rebuilt his house, ate well and put on costly clothes. Also, he did not look for any work. Gokul, however, went on as usual working for different people. There was no change in his lifestyle.
Six months passed. Raj rarely met Gokul during that period. Then, one day early in the morning he came to Gokul’s house, with a long drawn face, “What is the matter, Raj?” asked Gokul.
“My good days are over. I spent half of my share of the money and deposited the other half of it with a man who claimed to be a merchant. He promised to return the money with an equal amount added to it as interest in three months.
Yesterday I learnt that the fellow is a cheat. He has taken money from many people of our locality and has clean disappeared. I am a broken- hearted man today!” Raj said wiping his eyes.
“What did you do to the other half of the amount?” asked Gokul.
“I spent it enjoying myself,” said Raj. “My friend, why should you not feel happy that you have spent half of the amount as you liked? One day you got the money out of nothing. Why should you feel sorry if a part of it went away for nothing?” asked Gokul.
“But I have nothing left with me now. How am I going to manage my family?” said Raj. Gokul patted him on the back and said, “Look here, I was thinking of of meeting you with the offer of a job in the town. But I was hesitating, because I did not know that you were in need of a job. Both of us can proceed to the town and take up service.”
Raj kept looking at Gokul with surprise. Gokul explained, “You see, I
carried my share of the money to the village headman and told him that the man who got it has kept half of the amount. I found out that the money bag belonged to the headman himself. I requested him not to insist on knowing the name of the person who found the bag and kept half of the money. I assured him that he was a needy man. The headman was pleased with me. He wanted me to take back the fifty gold coins, but I did not. Now he has set up a business in the town.
He wants me as his manager there. He has asked me to find out a man of my choice to work as the assistant manager. You are my choice!” Raj shed tears of gratefulness as well as joy.