There was one rich man. When he died, he bequeathed all his wealth to his only son.
“My son,” said the rich man. “Here are all my riches, which I have been accumulating all my life.” I am dying now, but I would like to give you advice on how to use the inheritance. When you become the complete owner of all my estate, then build towers in every village, and eat bread only with honey.
The rich man died. From that very moment the son began to fulfill his father’s will. In every village he built towers, and ate bread only with honey. How long he lived like this is unknown, but finally he became poor: he didn’t have enough money. And so, poor, hungry, not even having a corner where he could lay his head, he began to curse his father:
- Oh my father! May you not see good in the next world! You gave me wealth and squandered it with your own stupid advice.
- Why do you curse your father? - an old friend of his father turned to him here. - What did he do to you?
- How did you do what? - exclaimed the son. - Leaving wealth, my father ordered me to build towers in every village, and to eat bread only with honey. That’s what I did, and this is what I’ve come to: I don’t even have a kennel where I could warm myself, and I’m forced to wander.
“It’s not your father’s fault, and you’re cursing him in vain... Your unreasonableness is to blame for everything.” How could you not understand the good covenant of your father? After all, he did not order you to build towers in every village, but to acquire for yourself everywhere faithful and reliable friends, like a stone tower; after all, he did not order you to eat bread with honey, but to eat it when it seems like honey to you after work... If you had done all this, you would not have become such a poor man.
The foolish son went and began to do as the old man said: in every village he made loyal and reliable friends and ate bread when it seemed sweet to him, like honey. And he soon became twice as rich as before.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru