Gold coins and the selfish man

CEBU, Philippines - Sam was a greedy and a selfish man. He always desired to have lots and lots of money and never hesitated to cheat others just to make money. Also, he never wished to share anything with others. He was so selfish that he would like to have everything for himself.

Sam would calculate each and every small aspect. He paid very small wages to his servants. Where ever he went, he thought of schemes to save or make money by deceiving others. He also told a lot of lies to protect his wealth. Simply, Sam was the exact antonym of the word “honesty.”

And then he was taught a nice lesson by his own act.

One day, he lost a small bag, which contained 50 gold coins. He was searching for the bag day and night. He sent his workers in search of the bag, but no one could find it. He told his friends and neighbors that he had lost a bag of gold coins and requested them to bring it back to him if they happen to find it. The loss of so many gold coins made Sam very sad.

After a couple of days, a ten year old girl, who lived near Sam’s house, told her father that she had found a small bag and that it had 50 gold coins. The father worked in Sam’s land and he told his daughter that the bag belonged to his master. He told the girl that the master lost it two days before, and insisted to return the bag.

They weren’t very rich, and the father could have easily retained the gold coins, and hide their finding of the bag. He was so honest that he felt that he should return the gold coins to his master, the rightful owner.

He took the bag back to Sam, and asked his master to check the gold coins in the bag. Sam, although obviously happy to get back the gold coins, decided to play a trick. He shouted, “There were 75 gold coins in this bag and you gave me back only 50! Where are the other coins? Have you stolen them?!”

The worker was shocked to hear the master, and swore to his master that it was everything his daughter had found. Selfish and greedy, Sam did not accept the worker’s story, and decided to take the issue to court.

The judge heard both the sides. He questioned the daughter and the worker about the number of coins they had found in the bag. Father and daughter swore that they found only 50.

Then the judge cross-examined Sam on the number of gold coins in the lost bag. Sam replied, “I had 75 gold coins in my bag, my lord, and they gave me back only 50. It is quite obvious that they have stolen the 25 coins from the total!”

“Are you really sure that your bag had 75 coins?” the judge asked again. Sam nodded his head in confirmation.

After thinking things over, the judge then gave his judgment. “Since Sam lost a bag of 75 gold coins and the bag found by the girl had only 50 coins,” he said, “it is obvious that the bag found does not belong to Sam!” Looking to everyone else in the court, the judge announced, “If anyone would find a bag of 75 gold coins, I will declare that it belongs to Sam.”

And then the judge concluded, “As there are no claims against the loss of 50 coins, I order that the girl and his father here take those 50 coins as a token of appreciation for their honesty!”

The selfish man got what he justly deserved. (www.kidsworldoffun.com) (FREEMAN)