In the old days, there lived one blacksmith in the world; you couldn’t find a more industrious person. And he had a son, a guy almost twenty years old, tall, stately, hungry for food, but lazy at work. So one day the blacksmith says to his son:
“I worked all my life, son, everything in the house was acquired with my own hands.” But you don’t want to work, you just eat and drink, you haven’t earned a single yuan. What will happen next?
The son ignored his father’s words and said:
- How important is it to earn yuan, but there’s no need for any talent!
Father answers:
- Okay, if you earn a yuan, I’ll give you a whole chest of goods.
My son can’t wait to get a chest of goods, but he doesn’t have a yuan. I don't feel like working. He walks back and forth in front of the gate, doesn’t know what to do.
The mother looked at him and felt sorry for her son: no matter how tired he was of his thoughts, no matter how dry he was, she came up to him and said:
“I’ll give you a yuan, quickly take it to your father.”
The lazy man took the yuan, grabbed a bundle of food, lay down in the cold under a tree and gobbled it up on both cheeks. He lay around until the evening, returned home as if nothing had happened, gave the yuan to his father and said:
- Here's a yuan, give me a chest of goods here.
The blacksmith took the coin, looked at it, turned it over in his hands, threw it into the forge and said:
- You didn’t earn this yuan.
The lazy man realized that he would not see the chest of goods, and he became alarmed. He went to bed, couldn’t fall asleep, tossed and turned from side to side. His mother found out about this, and the next day she gave him money again. And the lazy man took the money and again was idle all day, only this time he decided to pretend, he ran for two li, he was all sweaty, he flew into the house, already out of breath, gave the yuan to his father and said:
- Well, I worked so hard until I earned this yuan, I can’t keep my legs straight! Now bring the chest of goods!
The blacksmith took the money, looked at it for a long time, then threw it into the river that flowed near the house, and said angrily:
- And you didn’t earn this yuan!
The lazy man sees that there is no way for him to get the chest of goods, he is overcome with vexation, even if he dies!
Then the mother realized what was going on and realized that she was doing evil to her son. She called him the next day and said:
“Father wishes you well, son.” If you want to get a chest, work hard!
The young man listened to his mother and left home that same day. He walked and walked until he wore off all his soles, and finally, on a small street, he got a job carrying logs. He carried it until nightfall, but when he paid the artel for grub, he was left with only a ten-kopeck piece. The guy had never worked and was so tired that he fell off his feet. They picked him up and started carrying logs again. I worked for ten days, didn’t spend a coin, saved a yuan. He returned home joyfully and gave the money to his father. The father took the coins, counted them, and threw them into the forge again. The son could not stand it, snatched the money from the fire and said to his father offended:
“I worked for ten days until this yuan earned!”
The father was delighted and answered:
- You're right, son! Now I see that you earned this money yourself. I suppose I didn’t feel sorry when I threw strangers into the fire!
The blacksmith said this, took out the chest and said again:
- Not gold and silver, not rare treasures in this chest - my entire tool. Take it and remember that it is more valuable than gold and silver, more valuable than all riches! Work hard! You will not know a century of grief!
The son laughed cheerfully and accepted his father's inheritance. This was a family treasure.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru