Come Tomorrow!
Mark was a rich man. In fact, he was perhaps the richest man in the town. But he was also most notorious as a miser. Nobody had ever seen him spending a pie for any good cause of in giving alms. One day, as Mark was walking through the town, a beggar spread his palms before him. "Sir, I have not eaten a morsel of food for two days. Kindly give me a cent!" he said in a touching voice. In those days one could eat an ordinary meal at the cost of a cent. But Mark continued to walk, pretending as if he had not heard what the poor man said! Luku, the caretaker of the local shrine, who happened to be there, took pity on both the beggar and Mark. He was a poor man himself, but he took out a cent from his pocket and gave it to the beggar. Mark turned towards Luku and smiled and said, "Not that I did not wish to give a cent to this beggar, but I had no small change with me!" "I understand. May I offer you a cent as a loan so that you can give it to the beggar?" asked Luku. "Luku, it is not proper to encourage beggars by giving them so much at a time," observed Mark. "In that case, why not treat the cent I gave him as yours? You can return it to me!" proposed Luku. Mark thought over it for a moment and said, "That is a good idea. All right. Consider the cent you gave to the beggar as a loan given to me. But mind you, I do not like to remain indebted to people. Please come to my house and take back your cent from me." "Thank you. I will do so," said Luku.
The next day he went to Mark's house to realize the cent. Mark smiled and said, "Are you already here for your cent, my brother? The problem is, I do not have small coins even now. Will you mind coming tomorrow?" Luku went away but was back with Mark again the next day. "I don't want you to go back empty-handed today. Although I do not have small coins with me, I can give you a gold coin. Please deduct your cent from it and give me the rest of the amount," said Mark with a broad smile. Luku knew that if one goes to a shop and wants coins for a gold coin without buying anything, the shopkeeper keeps for himself two cents for exchanging the coin! Luku understood that the miser wanted to exchange the gold coin by paying a cent which was lesser than what the shopkeeper would take! "Gentleman, you know that I am a poor watchman whose annual income is less than one gold coin. How can I have on me so much money? Better I come tomorrow. Please keep my cent ready," he said. "Welcome," said Mark. The next day, as soon as he saw Luku coming, he told his wife, "I will lie down as if I were dead. Pretend to shed tears. Why lose a cent on this fellow?" And he lay as if he were dead! Luku saw the situation. "My sister," he spoke to Mark's wife, "I am so sorry that the land is deprived of such a generous, kind-hearted, gracious philanthrope like your husband. Only the other day he made a wretched beggar wealthy by bestowing upon him a full cent! Of course, he borrowed it from me and I have been running to him for realising the sum! Let us forget about that now. But, as you know, according to the custom of our community, it is the duty of the friend to bathe the dead and to put him in a coffin. So, let me do the needful."
Luku fetched from Mark's kitchen a potful of boiling water and threw it on Mark. But Mark made no movement. Luku then fetched a coffin from the shrine and put Mark in it and told Mark's wife, "My widowed sister, as you know, it is the custom of our community to bury the dead only during the day. Since it is already evening, your husband's dead body has to be kept in the shrine for the night." So saying, Luku dragged the coffin to the shrine. Even then Mark lay still. It was night. Four burglars entered the shrine in order to sit down in that lonely place to divide their booty. Luku observed them, hiding behind a pillar. After the burglars had made four equal portions of their money, one dagger with a golden handle was found to have remained a surplus item. "Who will take it?" they debated among themselves. Suddenly Luku spoke out from his hiding, "There is a body in the open coffin. One who can cut it to pieces will possess the dagger!" "What! Must you cut me to pieces?" exclaimed Mark, sitting up. For the burglars, it was a strange experience. They took it to be a matter between two ghosts. They took to their heels, leaving their money behind. "Good. Let us now share it," Luku proposed to Mark who jumped at the idea. They divided the wealth between themselves. Then Luku said, "Now that you have received so much wealth for nothing, I hope you would not mind returning my cent! Your share includes some small coins!" "Come tomorrow," said Mark with a broad smile. Luku fainted down.
For More Bedtime Stories Click Here
For Audio Story Check Below:
Comments
Post a Comment