TODAY WEALTHY - TOMORROW POOR

Many years ago lived a very rich man. His property extended beyond the eye could see. The rich man had only one son whom he loved and looked after. When the kid grew up his father sent him to school. After a few years the father got very ill and always laid in bed.
One day when the old man felt that the end of his life was coming near, he called his son and said to him:
- As you see my son, soon I will close my eyes and die. That will be the last time that we will see each other. Listen carefully, I live you this much money, goods, fields, vineyards, gardens, houses. All I have will become yours. I only ask for one thing?
"Open your eyes and work with your mind, from one make two and spread my honourable name. If you start drinking, making sins and lying you will quickly lose your wealth. Then the only thing left for you will be to throw a rope and hang yourself on the tallest tree in the garden, because the world will joke with you"
Soon after that, his father died. The son with deep sorrow buried his father. On the funeral gathered old and young, male and female a chain of people.
After some time the son forgot his fathers words. He got involved with the wrong people. He started drinking, gave up work and went towards the wrong way.
In about two - three years he sold all of his property, ate and drunk all his money with his friends. He quickly became poor and the world started to laugh at him. The only thing he had left was his house and garden. One day when he didn't have anything to eat, he sent a message to his friends to give him a little loan. His friends did not send him anything, so he decided to go and beg them. His friends made jokes with him and said:
- Get away from us. You should be ashamed. Your father left you all his wealth and you wasted it. Your head deserves that silly looking hat.
Step by step the poor man went home.
One morning, when he could not handle the laughs by the people, he took a rope and headed towards the garden. He decided to do what his father once said. He stood underneath the tallest tree, threw the rope over the thickest branch and put a wooden basket underneath his feet. He stepped onto the basket and put his head through the knot. When he kicked the basket with his feet to hang himself, the branch split from the tree and he was left alive.
Amazed, he looked up and saw that the tree was hollow. When he looked up carefully, he noticed that the trunk was full with precious diamonds and gold.
Then he thought: "My father knew that I will go towards the wrong way. That's why he hid all this fortune and told me to hang my self exactly here, but now I know what to do. I will start working and make him proud".
The son went in the house to take an axe. He chopped down the tree and carefully gathered the gold and precious diamonds in a bag. After he carefully through what to do he decided to be a trades person. He turned his back on his older friends and started to be honest in his work. He travelled through the whole world by trading. After many years of hard work he got back his fathers wealth. Once again his and his father's names were spoken amongst the people proudly.

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