Once upon a time, Henry and his wife Bloria lived in a small village. Henry sold milk and owned a cow pen with his wife. They were accustomed to caring for their cows and providing them with good food and treatment. Therefore, the cows produced high-quality milk, which made everyone in the village buy from him. His work profited well, but despite that, he wasn’t happy. He dreamed of buying a large house and expensive clothes. His wife said to him, “Greed won’t benefit you. We profit a lot, and we should be happy.” He said to her, “How can we be happy with a small house and the cow pen around us? The smell of cows is unbearable.”
The villagers always praised Henry and his milk, but he decided to sell the cows. The villagers told him, “They are your source of livelihood, and you must care for them. Your greed won’t benefit you, and it’s better to realize that quickly.” Henry was in a hurry to increase his income and started thinking of a way to do that. He thought about selling in neighboring villages, but then he would have to buy a cow. Then he said, “I’ll do something to buy a house. I won’t buy a cow, and I have to increase the milk. How do I do this?”
While Henry was walking, he passed over a river. Then an idea came to him while he was under the control of his greed. He said, “What if I add some water to the milk? This way, I won’t buy another cow, and at the same time, I’ll sell milk to other villages. No one will notice that I added water.” This is what Henry did. The next morning, he filled half the bottles with milk and the other half with water. As usual, the villagers bought milk from him and paid him the price. Because of the added water, milk remained with him, so he sold it in a neighboring village. In the evening, Henry was happy and said, “This is great. If this continues, I’ll become rich soon.” Days passed, and Henry became richer. He bought a car and renewed his house.
He became accustomed to putting water in the milk and didn’t think about buying another cow. As demand for milk increased, he increased the water inside it. Then the villagers started noticing, and talk began about the new diluted milk. The villagers wanted to know the truth, so they gathered at Henry’s house. He said to them, “What’s the matter?” They said, “We’re complaining about the milk. Its taste is like water.” He said to them, “It hasn’t changed, but you don’t appreciate its quality. I work hard. Buy from others if you don’t like it. I have other customers who love milk.” He entered his house and closed the door forcefully. The villagers planned together to know the truth. The next morning, he went as usual to the river, then opened the milk containers and filled them with water. He didn’t know they were watching him. The villagers understood the whole matter and decided to teach the greedy seller a lesson.
The next day, his wife went to the market to buy grains. In the evening, he returned from work and sat to eat dinner. He said to his wife, “What is this? Did you cook stones?” She said, “No, they’re grains.” He said, “How dare the seller sell small stones inside the grains? I’ll go to him.” In the morning, Henry went to the seller. He said to the seller, “What did you sell us?” The seller said, “Buy from others if you don’t like it.” He left angry. A while later, he went to buy eggs and discovered that 10 eggs were stones. His anger increased, and he said to the seller, “What did you sell me?” The seller said to him, “Just like we bought milk from you, not water. Buy from others if you don’t like it.” He left angry. The next day, he bought a silk shirt. Rain fell on his way, and the shirt’s color faded. When he reached home, he realized the shirt wasn’t silk. The situation continued for several days. Every time he bought something, he discovered it was something else.
Henry was busy thinking about himself and his greed and didn’t realize he was doing the same thing to others. With time, other villages started complaining. With time, everyone stopped buying milk from Henry. His money ran out, and he started selling the things he had bought with the money from adulterated milk. He became a poor seller. His wife said to him, “Now you realize your deed. Your greed is the cause of our poverty.”