EVIL
REMAINS: GOOD, comes back to you!
------------------------------------------
A
woman baked some bread for members of her family and an
extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra bread
on the Window-sill, for whosoever would take it away.
Everyday,
as the woman placed the bread on the window-sill, she offered
a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek
his fortune. For many months, she had no news of him. She
prayed for his safe return.
Everyday,
a hunchback came and took away the bread. Instead of expressing
gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his
way: "The evil you do remains with you: The good you
do, comes back to you!"
This
went on, day after day. Everyday, the hunch-back came, picked
up the chapati and uttered the words: "The evil you do,
remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!"
The
woman felt irritated. "Not a word of gratitude,"
she said to herself... "Everyday this hunchback utters
this jingle! What does he mean?"
One
day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. "I
shall get rid of this hunchback," she said.
And
what did she do? She added poison to the bread she prepared
for him!
As
she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled.
"What is this I am doing?" she said. Immediately,
she threw the bread into the fire, prepared another one and
kept it on the window-sill. As usual, the hunchback came,
picked up the bread and muttered the words: "The evil
you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!"
The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of
the war raging in the mind of the woman.
That
evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it,
she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway.
He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and
torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his mother,
he said, "Mom, it's a miracle I'm here."
"While
I was but a mile away, I was so famished that I collapsed.
I would have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by.
I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was kind enough
to give me a whole bread."
"As
he gave it to me, he said, "This is what I eat everyday:
today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than
mine!" "
As
the mother heard those words, her face turned pale. She leaned
against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned
bread that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it
in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and
he would have lost his life! It was then that she realised
the significance of the words:
"The
evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back
to you!"
Do
good & Remain Blessed! |