There was this old man who had a large family and a larger circle of friends. They all lived well together and met often. While there was much happiness among them, things were always a bit tight, money was perpetually a little short and they all kept wishing things could get a little easier. One day the old man was walking in the forest when he met God resting under a tree. The old man was overwhelmed and immediately prostrated himself and sought his blessings. God gently patted his head and bade him to sit besides him. So the two of them sat and listened to the sounds of the forest. After a while the old man became restless and God asked him why? The old man asked God why he didn't give him more money. God told him tat he had given him enough and if he gave him anymore then he would have to take something away.
'take away what?' asked the old man.
'happiness' God said.
'Oh, I have enough of happiness' said the old man, 'I can spare some, so please give me some more money'
'it doesn't work that way' said God, 'I cant give you just a little more money. What I can do instead is give you lots of money'
'well, more the merrier', exclaimed the old man, 'with lots of money I can fulfill all the desires of my family and friends and then we will all be happy. So God, please give me lots of money'
'So be it', said God, 'but don't tell me later I didn't warn you'
So now the old man was immensely rich and he quickly went about trying to fulfill all those latent desires he had in him. And he enjoyed the joys it bought him, the delights, the way everybody was respectful to him and the way they all treated him as if he was some king. He loved the way he could solve all problems with his money. And so his life went on. But all the while the old man kept wondering what did God mean when he said he would take away his happiness. The old man had never been happier.
One day his youngest son came up to him and bitterly complained that he was being unfair. That he was giving his elder siblings much more money. 'But that because they have bigger families' the old man explained. 'So what, I too will soon have as big a family, so you must give me just as much money as they get'
So the old man gave his youngest son as much money. But the moment he did that his elder children were very unhappy as they though he was overly favoring his youngest child. So little by little the old man felt things changing. He noticed that nobody now came just to meet him, they all came so that they could somehow sponge off him. What made him sad was that everybody pretended they were there just to meet him but soon they would start talking about some misfortune or some great idea they had to solve all their problems and all they needed was a little bit of money. Since nobody openly asked him for money, especially his friends, he would close to give it out when he felt like. When he gave it they would go away happy but if he didn't give them the money then they would promptly bad mouth him all over the place, that is was stingy old man or that he had a heart of stone and so on and so forth. All this made him feel very uneasy and that's when the old man finally realized what God had meant when he said that he would take the happiness away.
'take away what?' asked the old man.
'happiness' God said.
'Oh, I have enough of happiness' said the old man, 'I can spare some, so please give me some more money'
'it doesn't work that way' said God, 'I cant give you just a little more money. What I can do instead is give you lots of money'
'well, more the merrier', exclaimed the old man, 'with lots of money I can fulfill all the desires of my family and friends and then we will all be happy. So God, please give me lots of money'
'So be it', said God, 'but don't tell me later I didn't warn you'
So now the old man was immensely rich and he quickly went about trying to fulfill all those latent desires he had in him. And he enjoyed the joys it bought him, the delights, the way everybody was respectful to him and the way they all treated him as if he was some king. He loved the way he could solve all problems with his money. And so his life went on. But all the while the old man kept wondering what did God mean when he said he would take away his happiness. The old man had never been happier.
One day his youngest son came up to him and bitterly complained that he was being unfair. That he was giving his elder siblings much more money. 'But that because they have bigger families' the old man explained. 'So what, I too will soon have as big a family, so you must give me just as much money as they get'
So the old man gave his youngest son as much money. But the moment he did that his elder children were very unhappy as they though he was overly favoring his youngest child. So little by little the old man felt things changing. He noticed that nobody now came just to meet him, they all came so that they could somehow sponge off him. What made him sad was that everybody pretended they were there just to meet him but soon they would start talking about some misfortune or some great idea they had to solve all their problems and all they needed was a little bit of money. Since nobody openly asked him for money, especially his friends, he would close to give it out when he felt like. When he gave it they would go away happy but if he didn't give them the money then they would promptly bad mouth him all over the place, that is was stingy old man or that he had a heart of stone and so on and so forth. All this made him feel very uneasy and that's when the old man finally realized what God had meant when he said that he would take the happiness away.
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