THE LUMP OF GOLD

THE LUMP OF GOLD

Many years ago in California, there lived a poor man. He did not always have work. And when he was out of work, his family went hungry. This made him sad. He often told himself and others,”How unfortunate I am!”

            One day, he sat by the roadside with his head on his hands thinking of his sad condition. It so happened that a doctor from a nearby town passed by. The doctor was rich and kind. he saw the poor man and thought he was sick. So the doctor stopped and said, “What’s the matter, my friend?”

            The man sadly told the doctor all his troubles. the kind doctor said, ‘Come with me. I will give you a medicine that never fails to cure troubles like yours.”

            Once inside the doctor’s home, the doctor got something from the bookshelf. “Look”, he said, “this is a lump of gold. My father gave it to me. A strange woman gave it to him when he saw how poor my father was. My father did not want to sell the gold so he worked hard and saved a few centavos a day. Our fmily never went hungry after that.

            Meanwhile, the poor man with the doctor thought, ‘A lump of gold? This costs something-I could sell it for lots of money for my hungry family. Would the doctor give it to me?”

            Then the doctor went on, “I was also poor when father gave this to me. But I worked hard and like my father, saved centavos everyday. My family, like my father, has never gone hungry. I have never pawned nor thought of selling this lump of gold. May the possession of this treasure give you courage and bring you good fortune.”

            Thanking the doctor, the poor man took the lump of gold and joyfully went home. The man told his family about it and hid it among their belongings.

            The next morning, the man went to look for work. His happy face attracted the attention of a farmer who gave him a job. The man who was happy with work, worked well and this pleased the farmer.

            At the end of the day, the farmer said, “A happy man such as yourself does  good work. I’ll give you a permanent job on this farm.”

            As the years went by, the man no longer worried about his family going hungry. He managed to save a few centavos everyday. When the harvest was bountiful, the farmer gave him more than what he usually earned.

            Many years later, a beggar knocked at his door. He sadly told his own misfortunes.

            The man suddenly remembered the lump of gold. “Come,” he said to the beggar and told him the story of the lump of gold. “I no longer need it. It has given me courage and a happy face. I hope it will give you courage, too.”

            Happily, the beggar left with the lump of gold. As years passed, he too, learned the wisdom of the lump of gold. When he no longer needed it, he passed it on to another who needed it more than he did.