One straw rich man

A millionaire created through giving!

There is an old historical Japanese tale about giving and it shows how we can receive the most extraordinary gifts when we’re giving and appreciative of what we already have.

Here is the story.

Once upon a time, there lived a young farmer of very modest means. Whatever he tried to do did not find fruition and he always remained penniless. He was completely broke without any money, without any food and with no relatives. So one night, totally despondent, he went to a temple and sat near the altar begging the Gods to show him a way.

“I have always been truthful and assiduous, but all my industry never resulted in anything good for me. What did I do wrong?”

He slept at the feet of the deity after having put that question. In the morning, just as he woke up, one of the Gods of his dream appeared before him enveloped in a brilliant golden light. The voice of the God resounded in his mind.

“After you wake up in the morning, value that which you have in your hand and keep giving it fully to others as you move forward,” the God told him.

The farmer opened his eyes. There were many things that he wanted to ask but he managed to pull himself up and tried to remove the confusion of the strange dream. But there seemed to be a piece of straw in his hand. It must have remained stuck on his dress while he worked in his land.

He almost threw it away, but stopped short of doing it recollecting what God had said about it. He seated himself again and stared at the straw in his hand.

He sat for a while unable to comprehend what all that meant. He did not know how a piece of straw can turn out to be useful. Then he saw a wasp hovering around. After a while the wasp settled on one end of his straw. He caught it and with the help of a thread from his clothes, tied it to the straw. And with a wasp at the end of his straw, he went on his way.

He had only walked for a few minutes before he saw a little boy and his mother coming from the other direction. The boy was crying. As he said hello, the boy noticed the wasp moving on the straw that the farmer was holding. He stopped crying and asked for the straw. The farmer nearly declined but then he remembered about the God’s message that he needed to treasure what he had but also remembered that he was to give it away to others. So, he offered the straw to the boy. The mother was very appreciative as now the boy stopped crying and began smiling. The mother offered the farmer three tangerines.

The farmer moved on. As he proceeded, he felt hungry. He was about to eat the tangerines when he again remembered that what was important was giving things to others, not giving it to himself.

He had to climb a steep hill and there he saw a trader sitting on the earth under a tree. Near the man was a wooden box. The farmer wished the trader who seemed to be very tired. The trader saw the tangerines the farmer had and asked if he could have them. The trader said he was very thirsty.

The farmer was also quite thirsty having walked for a long time during the heat of the day but he offered all the tangerines to the merchant. The merchant ate the three tangerines and regained his strength. He was very grateful for the kindness of the farmer and opened the wooden box next to him. There were rolls of hand dyed silk fabric. The merchant handed him one roll, thanked him and walked off.

The farmer proceeded again through the same route. He finally found a rivulet from which he drank water and felt restored. He felt more energetic and comfortable and went on.

The farmer walked and walked not seeing anyone for a long time. He started to think that maybe this was it – his fortune. So, he decided to go to the nearby town to sell the fabric.

But as soon as he turned the corner, he found a group of soldiers. One of them, who appeared to be the leader of the group, was standing near a horse that had fallen on the ground. The leader of the soldiers was saying something to the men of his group.

“It does not appear that this horse would live much. We will have to leave it here. Nurse it well and catch up with me.” With this the leader jumped on to another horse and rode off, moving out of people’s sight.

The other warriors were left talking to each other about what to do. They did not want to kill the horse but there seemed to be no other choice. One of them finally drew his sword.

The farmer ran to them and requested them to refrain from killing it. He opted to care for the animal. In return for that he gave them the bolt of silk he had. They were happy of the offer and went away fast.

Now the farmer stood there with a dying horse. He thought he might have made a mistake that after all he was not meant to be wealthy. Then he remembered something. There was the stream he’d just passed.

He immediately went back to the stream, took off his shirt and soaked it in the fresh water so he could give water to horse. He returned to the horse still lying there on the ground. The farmer squeezed the wet cloth over the horse’s mouth. Very soon the horse began to respond and regained its consciousness, so the farmer pulled it up with all his might.

Once the horse was up the farmer was able to lead it to the river. The animal drank to its satisfaction and there was also green grass nearby that it could feed on. With both that the horse became fully recharged.

Now the farmer had a horse! They set off again together, this time the man had to run to keep up. The horse was actually leading the way. They ran together for miles. As the sun starting to go down, the horse finally stopped in front of a large house. As the farmer caught up, the horse pushed him with his nose to the entrance of the house.

When the farmer moved towards it, the gates opened and an old man came out of the house. The old man had dashed out of the house and he looked wan. He spotted the horse and the farmer, both just in front of the house.

The old man asked the farmer what it was that he needed. The farmer said that he wanted a place where he could sleep at night. The old man queried the farmer if he would mind looking after the house till his return as he had to leave for the nearby town on a pressing matter. He also said that it might take some time for him to return.

As the old man seemed to be in a hurry, the farmer offered him the horse. The old man appreciated the generous offer and took off with the horse. As he was leaving, he said something peculiar to the farmer.

“If I do not return within three years, this house is yours.”

As you perhaps inferred, the old man did not return.

So the farmer lived happily ever after in the old man’s big house with kind-hearted neighbours around and a land rich in good crops. He always kept in mind the rule that he should give to others what he had.

Thank you for reading this story. And what do you think it is all about?

Perhaps there is a secret to things. When we can turn the business of getting into the business of giving, our life gushes forward with greater plentitude. Still it might not be easy to incorporate into practical life this age old wisdom.

Given below are the remarkable factors that we can glean from the story:

* When we give the things that others want, they usually value it more than we value it while when we are trying to ‘sell’ something (because fundamentally, we want to get something from the deal), they compare the value with our asking price and try to pay less.

* When we are not attached to the things we have, we often find that we attract better opportunities as we can let go of existing ones.

* When life seems to deal us a bad hand, instead of focusing on the problem if instead we focused on giving and caring, life seems to end up bringing better luck later.

* When we try to ‘cash in’ what we have built up, thinking that “this is the best it gets”, because we think we may lose out it if we do not cash in now, our life’s growth often ends there. What if instead, we continued to be giving generously no matter what we owned or how physically wealthy we were or were not.

Giving is intrinsic in the lives of many who have made it to the top. When giving is done first, we are better able to lead a life of grandeur, comfort and glory.