Years ago, in a village, there lived a farmer named Suraj with his wife. The farmer was old, but his wife was young. Due to this difference, the farmer’s wife was unhappy, always wishing to marry someone young like herself.
A thief sensed the thoughts of the woman. He began following her every day. One day, he approached the farmer’s wife with a deceitful story. He said, “Years ago, my wife left me, and I am alone now. I am attracted to your beauty and want to take you with me to the city.”
Upon hearing this, the woman became happy and promptly replied, “Alright, I’ll come with you, but my husband has a lot of wealth. First, let me bring that wealth. With that money, we can live comfortably for our entire lives.” The thief agreed, saying she should go and return, and he would wait for her.
When the woman reached home, she saw her husband deeply asleep. She packed all the jewelry and cash into a bag and went to meet the thief. Upon the thief’s arrival, seeing the farmer’s wife, he thought, “Now, I am going to be very wealthy very soon. I just need to devise a way to get rid of this woman.”
The farmer’s wife reached the thief, and both started their journey to another city. After walking for some time, they came across a river on their way. The thief saw an opportunity. He said to the woman, “Look, the river is deep. I’ll help you cross it, but first, I’ll leave this bag of wealth on the other side of the river and then take you across.”
The woman, having complete trust in the thief, agreed, saying, “Yes, that would be fine.” The thief further said, “You are wearing heavy jewelry. Give me those jewels so that you don’t face any trouble while crossing the river.” Hearing this, the farmer’s wife gave all her jewelry to the thief.
The thief tied the bag of wealth and carried the woman’s jewelry across the river. The woman waited for him to return, but he never came back. The woman felt immense sorrow, tears streaming down her eyes, realizing she had been fooled. However, it was too late for regrets; the thief had taken all her money and jewelry.
Moral of the story:
The consequences of deceit are always negative. As you sow, so shall you reap. Therefore, it is said that honesty should always be shown in every relationship.
