{"id":616,"date":"2021-05-30T10:29:48","date_gmt":"2021-05-30T04:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/?p=616"},"modified":"2021-05-30T10:29:48","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T04:59:48","slug":"kind-old-mans-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/2021\/05\/30\/kind-old-mans-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Kind Old Man\u2019s Well"},"content":{"rendered":"

A long time ago, an old man lived in a desert. He owned a well, which was the only source of drinking water in a vast desert area. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The kind old man allowed everyone to drink from his well. Anybody passing through his land could drink from the well without having to pay for it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When the old man was too old that he could no longer look after the well, he called his son. \u201cDear son,\u201d said the old man. \u201cNow that I am very old, you shall look after this well. I want to spend my last days in a forest somewhere,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Illustration by: Neha Kumari<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His son had other plans. He wanted to become rich quickly. Unlike his father, he began charging money from the people who drank from the well. Soon, he was a rich man.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy father wasted his life giving away this water for free,\u201d he said to himself. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One day a merchant was crossing through the desert. He was thirsty, but was not allowed to drink from the well without paying for it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened to the free water which the old man used to give to every thirsty person passing through this place?\u201d the merchant asked a servant guarding the well. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The servant told him the whole story. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to meet the old man\u2019s son,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Illustration by: Neha Kumari<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The merchant offered the old man’s son enough money in exchange for his well. He was happy that he had earned a good amount of money by selling the water from the well. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He took the money and left in search of a comfortable house for himself in another part of the desert.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After many months, he happened to pass by the well. It was hot and there was not a drop of water left in his jerry can. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He could not drink from the well without paying for it. So, he went to the merchant, who now owned the well, to ask for some water. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get a glass of water by giving me half of your wealth,\u201d said the merchant. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The man knew it was too much for a glass of water, but he was thirsty. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He gave the merchant half of his wealth and took a glass of water. But he still felt thirsty. So, he took another glass of water by giving him the rest of his wealth.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He wanted a third glass of water but he knew he had no money left. He begged the merchant to give him a glass of water for free. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow you know why you should never have denied people water from your well,\u201d said the merchant. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is how the merchant taught the old man\u2019s son a lesson. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A long time ago, an old man lived in a desert. He owned a well, which was the only source of drinking water in a vast desert area. The kind old man allowed everyone to drink from his well. Anybody passing through his land could drink from the well without having to pay for it.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,120,12,11,8,36,67,135,136],"class_list":["post-616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-children-stories","tag-desert","tag-inspiring-tales","tag-kashmir","tag-kids-stories","tag-kindness","tag-old-man","tag-son","tag-well","enable-dropcap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetoad.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}