Dear friends,
Many traditions have stories about mean people failing to achieve their selfish ends.
Here is a cautionary tale for children and for the young at heart.
Nabbert was a greedy and selfish man who had lots of money.
Even so,
He always wished to have still more money,
And he never hesitated to cheat other people in his schemes to make an even bigger fortune for himself.
He never ever shared anything with other people.
He owned a big factory and he paid very low wages to his workers.
But one day,
Nabbert was taught a lesson that goodness and honesty is a better way to live.
On that day,
A small bag belonging to Nabbert was missing.
The bag contained 50 gold coins.
Nabbert searched high and low for the bag,
But he couldn't find it.
His workers,
His friends and neighbours were all enlisted to join in the search,
But all their efforts were in vain.
The bag couldn't be found.
After a couple of days,
Alice,
The ten-year-old daughter of one of Nabbert's workers,
Found the bag.
She brought the bag to her father,
Who identified it as the one that was missing.
When he and Alice checked the bag,
They saw that it contained exactly 50 coins.
The father immediately took the bag to Nabbert.
The father immediately took the bag to Nabbert.
But far from being happy with the recovery,
Nabbert shouted at his worker,
There were 75 gold coins in this bag when I lost it.
But you've only given me 50.
Where are the other coins?
You must have stolen them.
Alice's father was shocked to hear this.
He protested his innocence,
But Nabbert said he didn't accept the father's word and he decided to take the matter to court.
When the case reached the court,
The judge heard both sides of the argument.
First,
He questioned Alice and her father,
Who insisted that the number of coins found in the bag was 50,
Not 75.
Next,
The judge questioned Nabbert,
Who replied,
I had 75 coins and these cheats have returned only 50.
It's obvious that they have stolen 25 coins.
The judge carefully considered the arguments on both sides and he announced his judgment.
He said,
I believe everyone here is telling the truth.
Nabbert lost a bag of 75 coins and the bag found by Alice contained 50.
But it's obvious that the bag that was found by Alice is not Nabbert's bag.
I encourage everyone to continue to search and if anyone finds a bag of 75 gold coins,
I will declare that it belongs to Nabbert.
And as for the bag found by Alice,
It must have been lost by someone else.
I thank Alice and her father for their honesty in handing up that bag.
But since there are no complaints about the loss of a bag containing 50 coins,
I order that the bag belongs to Alice and her father.
A closing quote from Guy Sebastian When you live your life with honesty and integrity,
There is nothing that anyone can ever take away from you.
Namaste
