Once upon a time in a land far away there lived a very poor man. He did not have much and lived in a little hut on the East side of a village in Africa.
Every morning Xixi would wake up and see the empty cupboards in his house, and then he walked down to the village. He sat in the same place every day, and was well known around the village. Down at the village, everybody would share a little bit of food with Xixi, because they knew that he had nothing. Xixi just sat there the whole day and when the sun disappeared behind the mountain, he also packed up to go back home. This ritual was repeated every day. Xixi did not even look for a job because he knew that everyone in the village will look after him.
One day a very rich man came to the village and found Xixi in his usual spot. He offered Xixi a job and asked him to travel with him to the big city far away. Xixi has never been to the big city so he decided to pack up his things and travel with the man.
Everybody in town was jealous of Xixi because they too wanted to go to the big city because there were not many opportunities in the village. Xixi packed up his things and went with the man.
The big city was a wonderful place and there were so many new things to see. Xixi had to work very hard in the city, and this was not something that he was used to. Xixi started work very early in the morning and long after the sun went behind the big mountain Xixi was still working.
The rich man paid Xixi handsomely, and Xixi now had an opportunity to make something of himself. Xixi did not know what to do with all the money that he made, so he bought a wooden box to save up all his money.
Once the wooden box was full, he bought another one, and another one. Soon he had 5 wooden boxes full of money. He knew that he would survive for a long time with this amount of money and he longed to be back in the village. Life was simple there and he knew that he would not have to work so hard there. So, Xixi quit his job, and went back to the village.
Xixi knew that if people see his money, they would try and steal from him. He waited until the sun went behind the mountain to take his money to the little hut where he lived. He took all five the wooden boxes full of money and hid it under his bed.
The next morning when he woke up, he looked in his cupboards and saw that there was nothing to eat. Xixi knew that he had to make a plan to get food, but he also knew that if people see him spend his money, they would want him to share his wealth. He did not want to share his hard earned money because he worked very hard to save up all this money.
Xixi then went down to the village and sat in the same place he sat for many years before. People were surprised to see him there, and asked him many questions. They wanted to know everything about the big city and he told all of them the same story.
He told everyone that the rich man did not pay him well, and that he had to work like a slave. He even exaggerated to tell them that he had to escape to come back to the village, because the rich man held him prisoner. Everyone felt sorry for him and they shared all their food with him. Some people even gave him clothes and money.
Every morning Xixi would go back in his usual spot, and people would just bring him food. He didn't even have to lift a finger. One day one of the older members of the village suggested that they help out Xixi. He suggested that the ladies of the village go to Xixi's house to clean up and fill up his cupboards with food.
Tamara, one of the village leader's wives took the lead, and set off to Xixi's house. They took loads of food with them and some cleaning material to clean up Xixi's house. They did not expect to find anything in the little hut near the big tree.
Under Xixi's bed they found all five wooden boxes overloaded with money. Tamara immediately realized that he had been playing the fool with them, so she called all her friends, and they replaced all the coins with rocks they found down at the river.
That evening when Xixi got home, he found all his cupboards filled with food. He ran to his bedroom and was shocked to find all his money gone and replaced with rocks. He wanted to scream and sat there crying for the rest of the night. All his money was gone, he had nothing left.....
He also knew that he could not say anything about the stolen money to anyone because then they would know that he was lying to them all the time.
The food only lasted a week. Xixi knew that he had no other choice but to go back to town again. The next morning he walked back down to the village and sat in his usual place. Tamara was the first one to come by that morning...she just smiled at him and dropped one of his own coins in front of him...
He knew that he couldn't say anything...
Moral of the story:
- Don't be greedy. There are three forces that rule the world, stupidity, fear and greed.
- As long as greed is stronger than passion, there will always be suffering involved.
