Once upon a time there lived an old man named Dayasinkh. He had a son and grandson. The son's name was Nishthursinkh, and the grandson's name was Chalaksinkh. The old man turned seventy years old, and his wife died. He gave the keys to the house to his daughter-in-law. From then on, difficult times came for the venerable Dayasinha: the new mistress fed him poorly, kicked him out of the room, and the old man now had to spend the night in a cold basement. The unfortunate old man, who had only recently been the owner of his house and all his goods, faced a pitiful fate.
One day old Dayasinkh was lying on a torn mat in the basement and thinking about his bitter lot. And he remembered the time when his son was born, how he beamed with happiness then and tears of joy flowed down his cheeks. Now he, too, shed tears, but these were tears of great grief. The old man felt offended, he jumped up, kicked the mat in anger and began loudly drumming with a stick on the empty barrel that served as his table.
Fortunately, on that day his son and daughter-in-law went somewhere on business and only his grandson Chalaksinh, a smart and savvy boy beyond his years, was at home. He heard his grandfather knocking with a stick, ran downstairs and asked why grandfather Dayasinkh was beating an innocent barrel.
- Do you want to know, grandson, what the barrel was guilty of? So listen! Previously, your grandfather ate rice, like all people, at the table, but now he has to slurp the thin soup alone and place the bowl on this old barrel. So I take my offense out on her!.. At least you, grandson, don’t be as cruel as your parents!
And the old man cried again.
Chalaksinh’s heart even ached, he felt so sorry for his grandfather. He thought and thought and said:
“Grandfather, you’ll have to drum on the empty barrel again when your father and mother return home.” Don't be offended, no matter what I say...
The son and daughter-in-law returned home in the evening, and then the old man, as agreed, began knocking loudly.
- Hey, old wreck! - the grandson shouted. “Aren’t you tired of banging on the barrel yet?” What do you want?
- I'm hungry! - the grandfather answered him from the basement.
- Oh, that's it! You may die of hunger, just leave our barrel alone. After all, I still need it! If you break it, how will I feed my father and mother when they grow old?
Nishthursinh heard such words and thought: of course, he treats his father badly, but the time will come when his son will follow this bad example. Isn't it better to earn yourself a good old age with good things?
They say that from then on he began to take care of his old father. This is how little Chalaksinh taught his parents to be smart.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru