One night, around midnight, it was raining heavily. The sage and his wife had been sleeping in their little shack for a long time. Suddenly there was a knock on the door; someone needed shelter from the rain.
The sage said to his wife:
“Someone is knocking, some traveler, some unknown friend.” Please open the door.
His wife objected:
- But we don't have room. It's cramped for the two of us. How can we let anyone else in?
To which the sage replied:
“Darling, this is not some rich man’s home, which may have little space, this is a poor man’s home.” The rich always lack space; as soon as one guest appears at the threshold of a rich house, there is immediately no room in it. No, this is a poor people's hut.
- What does wealth and poverty have to do with it? - asked the wife. “It’s a fact that our house is too small!”
And the sage replied:
- If there is enough space in your heart, then the hut will seem like a palace. But if your heart is small, then even the palace will seem too small to receive guests. Please open the door. Is it possible to refuse someone who knocks on our doors? You and I are lying. The three of us won't be able to lie down, but at least we can sit. If we sit down, there will be enough room for everyone.
The wife opened the door. A man entered the hut, he was wet from head to toe, water flowed from him in streams. They sat down and began to talk. After some time, two more knocked on the door.
The sage said:
“It looks like someone else has come,” and asked the guest sitting next to the door to open it.
— Open the door? - the man exclaimed. - But there is no more room!
This man, who had just recently taken refuge from the rain in the sage’s house, forgot that he was here only because the sage was full of love for the whole world, and not because the sage showed love only for him. And so, new people appeared, and love had to find a place for the newcomers.
The man said:
- No, you don’t need to open the door. It’s already hard for us to fit in here.
The sage laughed and asked:
- My dear, haven’t I found a place for you? Now there is still space between us, we will make room, and there will be enough space for everyone. The night is cold, and it will be warmer for all of us to sit huddled together.
The door opened and two strangers entered the hut. They sat down together and began to get to know each other.
Then a donkey came up to the hut and pushed the door with his head. He was wet and wanted shelter from the rain. The sage asked the men sitting next to the door to open it, because another unknown friend had come.
The man looked through the keyhole and said:
- This is not a friend, this is just a donkey. There is no need to open the door.
“Perhaps you don’t know that at the doors of rich houses people are treated like animals,” the sage answered, “but this is a poor man’s house, and we are used to treating animals like people.” Please open the door.
The men moaned in one voice:
- But the place?
- There's still a lot of space here. Instead of sitting, we can stand, and then there will be enough space for everyone. Don't worry, if necessary, I can go out.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru