THE MERRY BOY AND THE TOUTHERN GENTLEMAN
A moralistic tale and yet not told at the cost of a whimper.
There was once a little boy, full of delight, and he had one of those beaming dispositions whereby he could brighten up the entire world around him. One beautiful day, he approaches an elderly-looking man-looking so wise, full of experience-and says:
“Sir, if you don’t mind, may I ask you: from your point of view, what is that one thing that can destroy happiness? Because by nature, I’m very jolly, and most of the time, I’m talking, laughing. But again, even being that jolly, I know someday I will be sad, so that’s why I’d like your advice: how can I make my daily life an act of living a happy existence?
Having hosted several thoughts in his mind about this problem, the old man finally nodded to reply,
“Okay, all right; I understand that you want to know what you are looking for, but let me say this: before telling you that, you first agree to do what I say.”.
Smiling up at the seriousness of his face, he asked:.
“All right, sir, what is it?
The old man replied,
“My back garden, there is an empty barrel. I want you to try your best to fill it with water. I’m too old now and do not feel strong enough to fetch the water from the river. As I shall compensate you for such a good job if you are able to help me, I shall give you two new coins. Yes, that is right, two coins, and they shall all be your own, young boy!”
Instantly, he was whirled into the tide of mad joy and unbridled exultation, specially because he urgently needed money for a very important reason. Without wasting any moment, he ran downwards in the direction of the stream with a strong bucket zealously, to fetch the much-wanted water. After some time with great toil, he went to the elderly man and proudly informed him that he had been able to fill the big drum to its top with fresh water.
But then the old man suddenly said,
“Gosh, I just recalled that I forgot to tell you something important: there so happens to be another empty drum in my kitchen waiting for him to fill it, too. It would not be an extra job to fill it, too. As a gesture of gratitude for your effort,
I will certainly thank you with an extra two-coin reward-that is, in all, four coins! Just think about all great things you can buy for yourself with so much money. Yes, four coins-all for you, my boy!”
The small boy was bent upon getting the four coins at all costs and never once did he stop to think if he was on the right track. So, wasting no time, he took the bucket and ran downhill toward the stream. In no time, he had the drum full of water.
But he ran uphill toward the old man and said, “Golly gee, I must say indeed that I am really quite a forgetful old man! It completely slipped my mind that there is, as a matter of fact, yet another empty drum, kept out in my garden.
If you can manage to fill this drum with water as well, then I will gladly add two more coins to the sum of money which you will receive, and thus you will have a total of six coins in all. Just imagine it; you will have a decent amount of money all to yourself. Six glittering coins, all six for you, my boy!”
A glow of eager joy shone richly and brightly across the face of the lad, lighting up the features with pure gladness. He was lost in the thinkings of all that might be bought with the rich store he had gathered; he felt quite bewildered, and
his soul seemed to leap and bound and struggle, as if it would burst the bonds that bound it. The time seemed to flicker away like dying sparks, and very soon he set to work to fill the third drum brimful, and, looking wearily and utterly worn, went once more to the aged man.
He scowled gloomily and muttered to himself, instead of setting the six glittering coins before the lad, “Good heavens, I really think I am absent-minded old man you are likely to find anywhere in the world! It quite slipped my mind that I had no coin on my person whatsoever.
I am so short of cash, I’m afraid to let you know that at this instance I have no money to give you, sorry to say! I’m afraid you shall have to go home with nothing in your hands since there’s nothing I can give you, young boy! With that utterance, in an instant, the beaming smile lighting up the boy’s face was replaced by a mug of sad surprise reflecting the inner turmoil of his soul.
It was this happiness that had oozed out just a moment earlier, and it was well out of sight, replaced by deep sadness and profound disappointment weighing heavy in his heart. Until suddenly the old man embraced him, and holding him in his arms warmly and tightly, he leaned back after a while with a wide and cheerful smile and spoke with him:
“Don’t you worry about a thing, my boy! The fact of the matter is, I have saved some coins just for you! All that I did was from a genuine motive to teach you an important lesson on life and its complexity. When you came to me and asked me to share with you what I believe to be the greatest destroyer of happiness,
I created a good plan in which I intended to make you feel a little sad, so I could teach you in the right and effective way. Listen well now, the greatest destroyer of happiness is your very
EXPECTATIONS. See, it’s because you thought that you would get six coins from me that made you feel sad when it didn’t materialize. When we are good and generous to people, we always find ourselves expecting a favor or an emotional reciprocation back from the other people which most of the time will not come back.
We most of the time find our expectations way too high or even just unrealistic for people around us to give it back to us. We find it that people must love us the same way that we love them. We expect people to be good and kind to us because we always show our goodwill to them.
There is this expectation that everything is going to be okay if we wanted it that way. Everything can make one frustrated, disappointed, discouraged, stressful, angry, and resentful because of all these expectations. However, if one learns to decrease his expectations of other people and recognize that they cannot live up to the standards that one sets out for them, one will never have any frustration or feelings of being hurt and down in one’s life.”
