One day, a rich merchant wanted to show his son the world, introduce him to his companion from another country, and so he took him on a trip. During the journey, father and son stayed in very expensive hotels, the father always taught that the son demanded to be treated as a master, then he would be given the best room in the hotel, the horses would be given an excellent stall in the stable, and the ship would be given a good place in the harbor.
They traveled in their own wagon, which was drawn by two horses. One stormy day, their cart got stuck in the mud and the place was deserted. Soon it got dark and rain started pouring down. Father and son unharnessed their horses and were forced to ride to the nearest village. There was no hotel there and they began knocking on houses. People, hearing an unfamiliar language, did not open the doors, but shouted something in response. So the tired wanderers walked through the entire village and only the door of the very last house opened. An old woman, all in rags, invited them in. The merchant's son, seeing the blackened walls and ceiling, retreated to the door.
“Father, let’s not spend the night in such a dirty shack,” said the young man.
“In a storm, any harbor is good,” the father answered and gave the old woman a copper coin. The hostess pressed the coin to her heart and laughed.
“She is so sincerely happy about the copper coin, as if it were gold,” the young man grinned.
“Just as any harbor is good in a storm, so in poverty any coin is golden,” the father noted.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru