A story from Indian heritage that teaches a child the importance of working hard, makes the child appreciate the value of money, and appreciate the efforts of his parents to obtain this money.
Events of the Story:
The inhabitants of Blampur village were ordinary workers and obtained only a little of their means of livelihood. The people of the village were to some extent like simple poor people. In this village there was a man named Ramlāl. Ramlāl was a poor worker in this village and worked in the market on a daily wage basis. This was his only source of income.
Bāhūl the Extravagant Child:
The worker Ramlāl had many burdens to bear; he had four children and had to provide education, food, and clothing for them. But the child Bāhūl was the most famous among his siblings.
He had no interest in studies; rather, he used various excuses not to go to school. Not only that, but he was extremely extravagant, spending all his allowance on buying sweets, chocolates, and unhealthy foods.
The Worker Ramlāl Teaches His Son a Lesson:
Ramlāl was very worried about his son Bāhūl, who had such bad habits. One day Ramlāl made a strict decision to correct his son and vowed not to give him any money from that day forward.
When Ramlāl told his child about this decision, Bāhūl felt great sadness. He thought he would not be able to receive an allowance for a day or two until his father returned to earn money, because he thought his father was suffering from a lack of money in that period. But many days passed and Bāhūl found himself receiving no allowance at all.
Bāhūl Goes Out to Work:
The father asked Bāhūl to help him work so that he could earn more money and thus receive an allowance. Ramlāl asked Bāhūl to go work at the railway station in the village to earn money.
Bāhūl Deceives His Father:
Bāhūl left the house and decided not to go to work, but to go to his mother to get money from her, then return to his father and tell him that he had earned this money from work, so his father would be happy and give him an allowance.
Indeed Bāhūl carried out the plan: he went to his mother and asked her for some money, and she gave it to him. He returned to his father and told him that he had earned the money from his toil and work. Ramlāl asked Bāhūl to go out and throw that money into the well and return to the railway station to work hard and earn money. Bāhūl threw the money into the well and left. Here Ramlāl knew that Bāhūl had not toiled to obtain this money because he got rid of it quickly without discussion.
Bāhūl Deceives His Father Again:
Bāhūl left and began thinking of another ruse. He decided to go to his sister’s house to take some money from her, then return to his father and tell him that he had earned the money after hard work at the station. Bāhūl carried out the plan. His father asked him again to go out and throw the money into the well. Bāhūl went out and threw it into the well, sad and perplexed by his father.
Bāhūl Decides to Work Hard:
Bāhūl left the house and decided to toil. He went out that time to work hard until he earned money. He headed to the railway station, entered, and cried there. He did not want to work or toil. One of the passengers saw him and asked him the reason for his weeping. Bāhūl told him that he had to work to receive an allowance.
The passenger offered Bāhūl to work as a porter for bags and help passengers carry their bags while boarding or disembarking from the train. Bāhūl was happy with this work, carried the passenger’s bag, and the passenger gave him a sum of money. Bāhūl continued carrying bags for passengers and obtained a lot of money.
Bāhūl Learns the Value of Money:
Bāhūl returned to his father happy, although he seemed tired. He told his father that he had obtained money. His father asked him to go out and throw the money into the well, but this time Bāhūl did not go out easily.
Instead, he said to his father: “How can I throw the money into the well when I have toiled greatly to obtain it, carrying the passengers’ heavy bags on my shoulders until I earned money? Therefore I will not go out and throw them into the well.”
At that moment his father felt happiness because he realized that he had to preserve the money he had toiled to obtain, and that he must appreciate the value of the money his parents toil to obtain.
Translated from the story: Importance Of Hard Work