Tuesday 14 May 2013

Emedinews:Inspiration:The evil you do remains with you



Once upon a time in the little countryside, there was a mother who would bake loaves of bread for her family every day. She would always bake an extra loaf of bread and keep it at the doorstep for any poor passer by or beggar or for any individual who wished to take it.

This lady lived with her husband and son in a small cottage and her son would go into the city to earn money. He would return after many days and come home to give his parents the money he had earned. Every day when the lady would leave a loaf of bread at her doorstep, this old man with a hunchback would come and take it. Not once would he thank her or show her some gratitude. Instead he would always mutter to himself, " the evil you do remains with you; the good you do comes back to you." This went on day after day and frankly the woman was getting very angry that not once did the old hunchback ever show any gratitude.

So one day she decided to get rid of the old man and she decided to put poison in the loaf of bread that she would keep outside the house for him. After she prepared the bread and filled it with poison, she began to feel guilty and think about what the old man had said. She wondered if there was any truth in what he had said and she immediately threw away the poisoned loaf in the fire and prepared a new fresh and clean loaf and placed it outside the house.

That night her son was due to return from the city. Later that evening, the old hunchback came and after he took the loaf of bread, he uttered the same words. Late at night, there was a knock at the house. When the lady opened the door, she was startled to see her son there. He looked tired and pale and miserable. His clothes were torn and he had bruises on his body. The son said, “Mother it is a miracle how I got here. When I was on my way home, some goons robbed me and I had to walk all the way home. I would have died had it not been for some old hunchback man I saw a mile away who took pity on me and gave me some bread to eat. Although it was his dinner, he still parted with it and gave it to me." The lady was shocked and her hand immediately flew to her mouth to cover her shame. Had she given the old man the poisoned loaf, she would have killed her own son in the bargain.

It was then that she realized the significance of the words: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” Do good and don’t ever stop doing good, even if it is not appreciated at that time.

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