When
I was a little boy, I lived in a small town where every one knew every one else
and no secrets were hid from our neighbours. Further down the street where our
house was situated, lived a rich man who had four sons. The rich man possessed
a great deal of wealth and it was rumoured that he had enough money for the
next ten generations to live in comfort.
Since
the rich man had amassed a lot of money he believed that it was not necessary
for his four sons to go to school. The four sons had never seen the inside of a
school since they were born and while we sons of lesser mortals trudged our way
to school and waded our way through our text books the four lucky boys used to
spin tops or play marbles outside their house. As a little boy, I used to
grumble at my fate and feel jealous of those four lucky boys who never had to
go to school or taste the vicious bite of the School Master's cane.
Time
flew and we soon grew into adults. After a lot of effort, I managed to obtain a
lowly job in a non-government organisation as a pen-pushing clerk. Meanwhile,
the rich man passed away leaving all his wealth to be divided amongst his four
sons. Even after dividing the money the sons had enough and more to live a
royal life for a few more generations. After receiving their rightful share of
their father's inheritance, the four sons who had now grown into manhood began
to reveal their true nature.
The eldest son took to drink and went on a
binge of non-stop drinking. Soon his liver began to bloat and he died shortly
thereafter leaving behind neither heir nor will. The second son was disdainful
of his elder brother. "I am not like my elder brother," he thought.
"I am not one to waste my life by drinking".
However, the second son was a dirty fellow and
kept his surroundings unclean. He never tidied up his house or swept the floor.
Even servants who tried to clean up the house were dismissed from service for
removing things from where they had been kept by their master. As a result dirt
accumulated in his house to the extent that dirt exceeded even the wealth that
was accumulated by his father and the man was wallowing in unimaginable filth
and dirt. Pigs used to play in his yard and used to enjoy themselves immensely
for here was a man after their own dirty hearts.
One
fine morning the second son fell ill and developed high fever, was nauseous and
weak. By that evening, the man had sunk into a coma. Many doctors were called
to save the man's life, but all their efforts were in vain. The Doctors
diagnosed that the man was struck with a rare virus and that nothing could be
done to save his life. The poor rich fellow died that night.
Observing
the plight and demise if his two elder brothers, the third son thought to
himself. "Oh! My poor brothers were so stupid. Though they had all the
wealth that they needed they could not save themselves from death. However, I
am not like them for I neither drink nor am unclean. So, I will live for long
and really enjoy the fruits of my father's riches".
Though
the young man was not addicted to liqour like his eldest brother or unclean
like his second brother, he had a passion for gambling and considered himself
to be a great cardsharp and a wizard with the dice. Initially he used to gamble
with small sums of money just to while away time and entertain himself, but as
he tasted success and kept winning small wagers he began to think of himself as
a genius with cards and dice. He began to believe that he was invincible and
that nobody could defeat him in these games of chance. He even began to dream
of going to Las Vegas
Moreover, the death of his two brothers
brought him more money since they had passed away without any heirs and their
share of their father's inheritance was divided amongst the two surviving
brothers. This emboldened the poor fellow and his unlimited wealth pushed him
to play for higher stakes. Even if he lost a lot of money he would continue to
play until the tide would turn and he would return to his winning ways. His
inexhaustible reserves of wealth kept him in many a game for days without end
and what began as a passion turned into futile desire and then into a raging
madness.
One
day he was attracted by an invitation which he received for a big game which
was to be held in the Mecca of gambling in India
As
time passed the tide of luck turned against him and he began to loose heavily
till all the wealth available with him was exhausted. By the next morning, he
had even lost all the deeds to his properties and was forced to gamble his wife
and infant child away. The new day brought with it a sad state of affairs and
the pitiable gentleman was left without a dime in this world. He did not even
have money to get himself a meal. Even the clothes on his own back were removed
by his creditors. The disillusioned gentleman was so upset with the turn of
events that he did not know what to do. He returned to his erstwhile home and
hung himself on the branch of a tree in what was once his garden.
The
youngest son of the rich man looked upon the fate of his three elder brothers
with disgust. He was very careful not to fall pray to vices. He kept himself
healthy and his surroundings clean. He used to go for long walks. His body was
truly strong and he possessed a lot of stamina.
One
day, he went for a long walk away from the town. As he walked down the road he
came across a big illuminated hoarding kept by the side of the road with
something written on it. Since the lad had not gone to school he could not
decipher head or tail of what was written on the signboard. "Stupid
fools" he thought to himself. "These fellows have nothing better to
do than scribble and scrawl on big boards", he thought to himself as he
walked past the board with his hands in his pockets, merrily whistling a joyful
tune. Meanwhile the evening sun had set and the roads turned dark. Suddenly the
young man stumbled, found the earth giving way under his feet and fell into a
deep ravine and died. Meanwhile the signboard stood resolutely with the words
"Danger deep gorge ahead".
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