A TALE OF TWO ROBBERS

Two robbers were crossing a dense forest. On the way they saw a cave. Inside the cave, they found a vast collection of jewellery. It was a treasure house of other robbers. They decided to steal the treasure, but could not find suitable bags or sacks to carry the jewellery. So one of them went to the neighbouring village to fetch sacks and food. The other robber guarded the cave. The first man collected food and sacks from the village and returned with food for his friend. On the way he thought that if he could kill his friend, he could have the whole treasure for himself. So he poisoned the food for his friend. The other man also made a similar plan to kill his friend when he arrived with food. The second robber hid himself and when his friend arrived, he sprang out of the bushes and killed him. Overjoyed at the idea of owning the whole treasure, he ate the food brought by his friend, not knowing that it was poisoned. Soon the second robber also fell down dead. Thus both of the greedy robbers lost their lives.

"It is better to have a little, honestly earned, than to have a large income gained dishonestly {Proverbs 16: 8}. Jesus taught us, "Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal"[Matthew 6:19, 20}.

By: Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India.
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