The Honest Child

 

Once upon a time in a very far village, there was a poor family with a man, his wife and their twelve-year-old son. The old man became sick and the only way for him to survive was to take his medications on time. When his medicine was finished, his son needed to travel three hours away from home to buy more for his father.

On his way to the city, the son thought about his poor family. When he reached into his pocket, he discovered that the money was gone. He looked inside and saw only the light coming from a hole of his pocket. The little boy felt hopeless and began to search desperately for his missing money.

While looking for the money, the boy was thinking about his sick father and wondering what would happen to the old man if he could not buy his medicine. The money was four days of his mother’s meager earnings. How could he go home with empty hands? While he sat on the ground crying, a king and his bodyguard crossed the warm, dry plain. As they neared the boy, the king got off his horse and asked him, “What are you doing in this lonely desert? And why are you crying?”

The little boy answered the king with polite and kind words and told the whole story about what happened to him. The king took out his own money and said, “I found your money.” The young boy couldn’t believe his ears, his face became flushed and he felt a little hope. But when he took a closer look at the money, as he never lied to anyone, he thanked the king and rejected the money. He said, “But it isn’t mine, your majesty, and I can’t take it.”

The king was impressed with the boy’s honesty, “This is your money. I just found it right over there a few minutes ago.”

“Mine wasn’t that much, sir. But thank you. I will keep searching and maybe I will find it,” said the boy.

In the time that the king and the little boy were talking, the king’s bodyguard was watching and listening. He was also impressed. He came closer to the boy, took the little boy’s money out of his pocket and said to the king, “My lord! On the way, my things had fallen down and when I got off my horse to pick them up I found this money too.” The boy confirmed that it was his money and the bodyguard returned it to him. The king was so impressed. He touched the boy’s shoulder and took out his money again, “I insist that you take and accept my money as a gift for your honesty.”

Written by Nematullah Ahangosh

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