THREE FRIENDS AND A BAG OF GOLD

“There is enough in the world for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed” is a famous saying. Greed is a curse. It is one of the deadly sins which bring about the destruction of mankind. It brings about great losses and destruction. A man should be satisfied with what he has because he may be caught in the net of his own greed as he plans to get rich. This fact can be realized through the following story.                                   

Once there were three bosom friends. They lived in a village. They were jobless and looking for some reasonable jobs to earn their livelihood. But when they lost all the hopes and became disappointed, they decided to go to a city to find some job because they had heard that migration from one place to another causes smile of fortune. Keeping this thing in mind, one day, they set out on a journey. They promised to help each other through thick and thin. They were to pass through a jungle. After covering some distance, they felt tired and decided to take some rest. They sat under the shady tree and began to chat with one another with great leisure and ease. Suddenly, they found a bag of gold coins near that tree. Their joy knew no bounds. They started to count the coins and made a verdict to divide it equally among themselves. However, inwardly, they were greedy. Each in his heart of heart wished to get all the coins. After sometime, they felt hungry. They sent one of them to bring some food from the nearest village. The guy who was sent to bring food was a greedy person. He bought some poison and mixed into the food. He came back with beautiful dreams of having all the coins. But, the other two who had already made a plan to kill him, attacked him and put him to death. Soon they began to take poisoned food greedily. The poisoned food showed its effect.  They embraced their fate and died very soon at the spot. The coins of gold were of no use. So all the three fell a prey to greed and temptation and the gold lay where it was. We learn from the story that greed is a curse. It should be avoided at any cost.