Money On The Road
In a certain village lived Ravindra and Durgadas, two business partners. Not only were they ideals as honest and prosperous merchants, but also as close friends. When any two brothers in the village would quarrel, the villagers would observe, "It is a pity that you don't learn any lesson in unity from Ravindra and Durgadas!" The people of the locality respected the two friends much. With the goodwill of all, they prospered more and more. But they spent a good deal in charity. On a certain auspicious day, every year, the two friends took stock of their business and divided their profit. Ravindra would set apart three hundred and sixty-five coins from his share and seal the amount in a bag. Durgadas observed his partner's practice, but he never asked why he kept the amount apart. Ravindra too was surprised that Durgadas never expressed any curiosity about it. On the particular day of the year, there used to take place a festival on the ground outside the village. In the evening Ravindra would quietly walk down to a well which was situated on an adjoining ground and place near it the bag with the coins. He never looked back to see who took the bag. Once, after leaving the bag behind, he suddenly decided to keep a watch on the area and see what happened to the bag. He hid behind a tree and waited. Minutes later a man, the greater part of his face covered with a towel, reached the spot and picked up the bag as quietly as Ravindra had placed it. It was obvious that the stranger expected the bag to be placed there. Ravindra was quite intrigued. Ravindra followed the fellow. After a while, the fellow removed the towel from his face. To his great surprise, Ravindra saw the fellow to be none other than his partner, Durgadas! "My friend, this is most unexpected! I leave the money on the road so that some needy person would come across it and the money would change the course of his life!" said Ravindra.
"Ravindra, I hope henceforth you will not be guided by your illusion. Once you leave the money in the open, there is no certainty that it will not fall into evil hands! It may change the course of one's life, but who can say that the change will be for good and not for the bad?" asked Durgadas. "To be frank, I had not thought that way. You know that I was a poor orphan. As a small boy, I once visited this festival. I was awfully hungry. I tried to steal a few sweets from a shop. But I was caught and beaten up. I came running towards this well. I had decided to jump into it and end my life. Something glittering caught my sight. It was a silver coin. I changed it into ordinary coins and ate to my content. With the surplus, I bought a sackful of fruits quite cheap from a shopkeeper who was anxious to leave for the town on an urgent message. I sold the fruits roaming about in the villages and earned a good profit. By and by I grew into a trader. After we met and became partners, I have prospered well. But I cannot forget the fact that at the root of my prosperity remains the silver coin left by somebody near the well. That is why I make it a point to leave here an amount of three hundred and sixty-five coins at the rate of one coin per day for some other needy man to benefit by it," explained Ravindra.
"My friend, it is a noble gesture and it speaks so sweet of you. But, I am afraid, your zeal is misplaced. I am not sure that the money we would leave on the road would certainly do good to the person who gets it. Let us try and see," proposed Durgadas. It was a moonlit night. They put some money into a bag and left it near the well. Thereafter they climbed a tree and waited. Soon a mendicant donning a pious garb came there. He intended to eat some food he had gathered and he was in need of water. While going to lower the bucket into the well he noticed the bag. He opened it and unable to contain his joy, spoke to himself, "With this, I can settle down in life, carry on some trade, and also marry. This will bring more money to me. I will hire some hooligans and give a thrashing to my enemies." He then walked away briskly. "What! A little money could bring such a change in the mendicant's life!" muttered Ravindra. "He wants to marry at this age and punish his enemies too!" Durgadas smiled and threw down a glittering silver coin. A little while later two fellows were seen coming towards the well. "My father had given me money to buy a cow. But I wasted it on gambling. I must die by jumping into the well," shouted the first one. The other tried to stop him. But, coming near the well, the first one saw the silver coin. "Haha!" he laughed. "I must gamble again with this. This time I am going to recover all I lost!" "You must give me half of its value. I too had seen it!" cried out the second fellow. Both came to blows. Heaping abuses to each other, both headed towards the festival.
"O, God! I never imagined that the money we threw could cause so much evil!" said Ravindra. Next, they threw a few more coins tucked in a handkerchief. Soon a tired villager with a heavy bundle of wood on his head came there and drew water from the well. "I do not know when I will be able to reach my home. It is only tomorrow that I shall be able to sell this bundle and get a little money. I do not know what to eat till then," murmured the man as he walked. "At last here comes one who is really needy. How happy would he be when he gets that money lying before him!" Ravindra whispered to his friend. Durgadas said nothing. The next moment both saw that the man was about to tumble against the bag. But he avoided it and went his way! "What a pity! The bag lay right in front of the fellow, yet he missed it!" murmured Ravindra with a sigh. "My friend, now you have seen what happens to people who get money without any effort. They go astray. People who could perhaps put the money to right use do not get it!" observed Durgadas. "What a blunder I have committed year after year by leaving my money here!" said Ravindra repentantly. "Be sure, my friend, that I have not allowed your blunders to remain blunders. I have collected the bag every time. I have maintained a separate account of it. It is a good amount now. We can spend it to establish a shelter for the houseless or a dispensary for the poor," said Durgadas. Ravindra's face brightened up.
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