Once upon a time, a husband and wife with their only son lived in the same village. The family was wealthy, so the parents spoiled their son terribly from early childhood, and he grew up a slacker and lazy. In the village everyone called him Maung Pyin, which means “lazy”.
Maung Pyin wandered around all day without anything to do. He even refused to help with housework. And when he grew up, he began to shamelessly squander the fortune acquired through the labors of his parents. His parents tried to reason with him this way and that, suggesting that he do some useful work. But Maung Pyin, under one excuse or another, shirked work. So he lived, spending most of his time in idleness and idleness.
Time passed and the parents grew old. Thoughts about their idle son more and more often haunted them. When the father felt that his hour was near, he called his wife.
“Listen,” he said. “Looks like you and I don’t have long to stay in this world.” And when we die, our lazy son will throw away the property that we worked so hard to acquire. I think it’s better for us to give all our goods to the poor rather than leave them to this dissolute lazy person.
The wife was very upset by her husband's speech. Although she understood that her husband was right, a son is a son, and she felt sorry for her only child.
-What are you saying, grandfather? How can we treat our own son so cruelly?
- But our son is an incorrigible spendthrift and a slacker. And when we die, there will be no one to restrain him, and in an instant he will throw all our goods to the wind. I will agree to leave him an inheritance only on the condition that he comes to his senses and begins to work hard. There will be no other decision of mine.
The mother realized that her husband’s will was firm, and she became more saddened than before.
She began to think and wonder how to find a way out of her difficult situation. And I came up with an idea. She called her son and said:
- Here, son, ten ja for you! Go out of the house for the whole day, and come back in the evening and tell your father that you earned this money.
Maung Pyin followed his mother's advice. Having slept all day in the shade of a spreading tree, he returned home in the evening and handed ten ja to his father. But the smart father did not believe his son’s word and, to check whether he was telling the truth, threw the money into the fire.
“I can’t prove to you that I earned this money through honest work,” Maung Pyin told him, laughing.
The next day, the mother again gave Maung Pyin ten ja and ordered him to run a little before appearing before his father’s eyes - so, they say, he worked until he sweated. The son really wanted to get his father’s inheritance, so he did everything as his mother ordered. In the evening, returning home, Maung Pyin came as close as possible to his father so that he could get a better look at his sweat-soaked shirt.
“Father,” said Maung Pyin. “I worked like an ox all day today.” Here's the money you earned!
But the father again, without saying a word, threw the money into the fire. And Maung Pyin laughed cheerfully again - after all, he didn’t feel sorry for his mother’s money!
The mother realized that nothing worthwhile could come of her idea, but meanwhile time passed, and the fate of her son worried her more and more.
“I just don’t understand how father realizes that you didn’t work,” she wondered. - I beg you, work honestly tomorrow. Otherwise all our efforts will be in vain.
Of course, I didn’t want to work for a lazy person, but I really wanted to receive my father’s inheritance. “I’ll have money, and I’ll be able to live comfortably until the end of my days,” he reasoned. And so I decided: okay, it’s worth making a sacrifice for the sake of the inheritance.
The whole next day Maung Pyin did the most difficult work: reaping rice, tying it into sheaves and dragging it to the floor. Out of habit, his whole body ached. And although he worked from dawn to dark, he received only one ja. It was then that Maung Pyin realized how difficult it is to get money. Clutching the earned ja in his fist, Maung Pyin went home.
“I really earned this money through my own labor, father.” I've been bending my back like a black ox all day!
But the father decided to put his son to the test again and again threw the money into the fire. Outraged that his father had thrown the money he had earned so hard into the fire without any regret, Maung Pyin rushed to the fireplace, snatched a piece of paper that had begun to smolder and pressed it to his chest.
-What are you doing, father? For this ja I worked from dawn to dusk. My arms, legs, shoulders hurt! Don't you feel sorry for me? – the son exclaimed in despair.
“Now I believe that you earned this money through your own labor.” Now you will finally know the true price of one ja.
- You're right, father. I realized that spending money is much easier than earning money.
The father was very happy about the change that had occurred in his son. Now he was no longer worried about the fate of Maung Pyin.
Having experienced what hard work is, Maung Pyin changed beyond recognition. He was no longer idle, but worked diligently and looked after his elderly parents in every possible way.
So they lived their lives in peace and friendship.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru