Once upon a time there lived a noble man who acquired a rare precious box made of fragrant sandalwood, trimmed with gold. This noble man publicly announced:
“I will give this jewel to the poorest man in the world.”
Many poor people came to him for this box, but he invariably answered:
- You are not the poorest person in the world.
Everyone was surprised:
“Are you really going to give this box to anyone?”
The noble man answered:
- I will give it to the poorest man in the world. And I'll tell you who the poorest person in the world is. The poorest man in the world is none other than our king Prasenjita.
These words gradually reached the ears of King Prasenjita, who was very angry at this:
- How so! After all, I am the king! How can I be the poorest person in the world? Go find this man and bring him to me!
King Prasenjita brought this man to his treasury and asked him:
- Do you know what this place is?
The noble man replied:
- This is the treasury where you keep the gold.
- What is this? - asked the king.
- This is the treasury where you keep the silver.
- What is this?
- This is the treasury where you keep precious stones.
Then King Prasenjita shouted angrily:
“So you know that my treasuries are full of gold and silver, that I have so much wealth.” How can you slander me, calling me the poorest person in the world?
But this noble man replied that although King Prasenjita had wealth, he was unable to take care of the needs of the other people of his kingdom. Although the king was rich, he could not use his wealth, so wasn’t he the poorest?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru