Henry the young peasant-boy was guarding the herd of cows in the woods. Each cow had a bell around its neck and the most beautiful cow had the best bell.
One day a stranger passed through the woods and said: "This is a beautiful bell. How much did it cost?"
Twenty florins," answered Henry.
"A mere twenty florins" exclaimed the stranger. "I am prepared to give you forty florins for it."
Henry handed over the bell and joyfully put the money in his pocket.
But now that the cow had no bell, he did not know where it was. The animal went off into the woods and the stranger who was waiting for it, took it by the horns and led it away.
Henry went home crying and related the sad story. He sighed: "I would never have thought that the thief would pay such a good price for the bell in order to rob me of the animal."
But his father said: "in the same way as that thief has deceived you, so the pleasure of sin try to deceive us all. It often gives some advantage at first but afterwards it brings us complete ruins. If we give in just a little it wants everything."
His mother said to him: "my dear child, did you ever think why we always put a bell around the cow's neck?
"Alas!" replied the lad, "the sight of so much money caught my attention. I was more interested in getting some money in a very easy manner.
I never thought that the bell was not a mere decoration. It was only when the cow had been lost that I realised the bell served the Shepherd to know where the cows are."
"This is what happens with people who are slaves of their passion," conclude his mother. "The throw aside all customs and consider them as useless things and it is only afterwards, often at their own expense, that they realise that everything in this world has a meaning and that riles are made to be observed."
Make new friends but keep the old
The one is silver, the older gold
One day a stranger passed through the woods and said: "This is a beautiful bell. How much did it cost?"
Twenty florins," answered Henry.
"A mere twenty florins" exclaimed the stranger. "I am prepared to give you forty florins for it."
Henry handed over the bell and joyfully put the money in his pocket.
But now that the cow had no bell, he did not know where it was. The animal went off into the woods and the stranger who was waiting for it, took it by the horns and led it away.
Henry went home crying and related the sad story. He sighed: "I would never have thought that the thief would pay such a good price for the bell in order to rob me of the animal."
But his father said: "in the same way as that thief has deceived you, so the pleasure of sin try to deceive us all. It often gives some advantage at first but afterwards it brings us complete ruins. If we give in just a little it wants everything."
His mother said to him: "my dear child, did you ever think why we always put a bell around the cow's neck?
"Alas!" replied the lad, "the sight of so much money caught my attention. I was more interested in getting some money in a very easy manner.
I never thought that the bell was not a mere decoration. It was only when the cow had been lost that I realised the bell served the Shepherd to know where the cows are."
"This is what happens with people who are slaves of their passion," conclude his mother. "The throw aside all customs and consider them as useless things and it is only afterwards, often at their own expense, that they realise that everything in this world has a meaning and that riles are made to be observed."
Make new friends but keep the old
The one is silver, the older gold
No comments:
Post a Comment