Laxmi Upreti
In a certain village, there lived an innocent man. As he grew older, he grew more and more foolish. As a result, he had to face more and more difficulties. Seeing him so gullible, the villagers pitied on him. He too was quite helpful; he helped every villager in need, without a grudge.
One day, the old man walked to a town. He bought provisions for his family. His bag grew quite heavy with things he bought. He arranged the things, and with a great difficulty, lifted the ration, and took his way homeward.
It was a hot day. The sun was quite scorching. He perspired all through, and pearls of sweat fell prodigally from his body. As he walked, he gasped heavy sighs, and dragged himself uphill. To add to his fatigue was his heavy bag, full of things. Yet, he struggled on.
In the meantime, a truck drove closer from a distance along the same direction. The driver saw the plight of the old passerby. Since the vehicle was quite empty, he asked the old man where he was going. Finding that their ways coincided, the driver gave the man a lift. He offered the man a seat at the back side of the truck. The truck drove away with the old man on board.
After some time, the truck reached the old man’s village. The driver stopped the truck, and unlocked the backside locker to help the man get down. But, to his dismay, he saw the man squat at the corner, his bag still hanging from his back. He was struggling with the load, and his face looked red with fatigue.
Seeing the man’s condition, the driver burst into incessant spells of laughter, but the old man kept staring at him, quite frightened.
The driver said, “Do not be frightened, foolish old man . You are quite innocent and gullible. Why didn’t you keep your load down, while you were in the truck? I laughed at you, seeing you clasp the bag even on the vehicle. Would your things go missing, if you had rested the bag? That would make you feel easy, instead. Seeing you struggle with the bag, I gave you a lift. But you kept carrying the bag, even on board the truck. God, you did not rest all along the way. Get down now; we are in your village.”
The old man pleaded quite humbly, “You asked me to sit, but did not tell me to rest the bag. So, I continued to carry it.” Then he got down.
The driver was surprised at the man’s innocence. He stared at him for a while, and steered away.