The value of old people

In a certain country, there was constant poverty. The king thought that the people of the country should be reduced. Only then can poverty be avoided. The king issued a strange law, that all the old parents who could not work, and only ate while lying down, should be thrown into the forest. What else could be done, if the law was not obeyed, one's life would be lost. So people would throw their old parents into the forest on the edge of the mountain. The old people would die of hunger there, or they would end up in the stomach of a tiger.

There was no choice but to send the old people to the forest. The guards would go around to see who had disobeyed the law. As soon as they found out that the old people were being fed, the guards would catch the head of the house and cut off his head. They would send the old people to the forest.

A son loved his father very much. The father also loved his son more than his life. Still, the father had to go to the forest due to fear of the king. Because he could not work. He had no strength in his body, and he walked with a stick. The son took his father on his shoulders while crying. Then they walked towards the forest. The father also had various thoughts in his mind. Even if he himself died, how would his son live? This thought made him cry.

The son was walking with his father on his shoulders. The father was breaking small branches of a tree and throwing them on the way. So that the son could return home safely, the father was leaving broken branches to mark the path. There was no shortage of tigers and bears on the way. If the son was in danger, the father handed a young branch to the son. He said: Father, I have left branches like this all along the way. You should go home after seeing all those broken branches. If you go the other way, you will be caught by a tiger.

Thinking that his father loved him so much, the son cried even more. He stopped. He said, "Father, I will not leave you and go home. I will go home with you. I am not afraid of the king's law." The father said, "Father, the harm that will befall you." The son said, "Father, I will not live without you." Seeing the strength of his son's heart, the father did not have to say anything else. He returned home on his son's shoulders.

The son dug a big hole behind the house and hid his father there. So that the people of the neighborhood would not know, he secretly started giving food to his father. The son ate a little of what he earned. How could his father be happy, this was his thought. Some days he gave his father Pola and Korma to eat, some days he gave him milk. Some days he brought apples and grapes from a distant market. He gave them to his father to eat. In this way, the father felt that he was living in heaven, even from inside the cave, touched by the son's heart.

One day, the king's drummers beat their drums and announced: "If you can make a rope out of ashes, you will be given a prize of five thousand taka." Despite all the efforts of the people of the country, they could not make a rope out of ashes.

The son went to his father and said: Father, the king has asked for a rope of ash. He will give a reward of five thousand taka. How can this rope be made? The father thought for a long time. Then he said: Tie a rope to the end of a long piece of wood. Then fill the rope with ash. You will see that it is a rope of ash. The son did as his father advised. A rope of beautifully twisted ash was made. The son showed it to the king. The king was happy. He wanted to give his son a reward. The son said: Your blessings are enough, my king, I do not want money.

After a few days, the king's drummers again beat the drums and announced: There is a piece of wood ten cubits long in the palace. Whoever can tell which end of this wood is which, will be given a reward of ten thousand taka. Millions of people came to the palace in greed for the reward. Everyone saw the wood. Some weighed it with their hands, some tapped it. Some smelled it. Some said that it was a head, some said that it was a root. But no one could provide proof, and the king was not happy without proof.

The son told his father everything. The father said: It is easy, father. Put the stick in the water. The head that sinks is the root, the head that is higher is a head.

Taking his father's advice, the son went to the palace. When he went, he saw that millions of people were arguing over the stick. Some said, I am right, some said, not you, I am right. The son said to the king's people: I can give the real answer. I can also provide proof.

Everyone said: Show me which one is the head and which is the tail. The boy took the stick and threw it into the water of the pond. One side of the stick was seen to be high and the other side was low. The boy easily told which one was the head and which was the tail. Millions of people were amazed. The king was very happy. The king wanted to give the boy a reward of ten thousand taka.

The boy said: My king, I do not want money. Your blessings are my reward.

Seeing that the boy was not greedy, the king was very happy. One day, the drummers beat their drums and announced: Who can make such a drum that will play even if you do not play it? Whoever can make it will get a reward of twenty thousand taka. A big reward. The whole country was in a frenzy. Thousands of drums came to the palace. The drums came thick, long, short, hollow - of various kinds. To make the drums play without any music, various tools were attached to the drums. But none of the drums pleased the king. Because these drums are not played without music.

The son told his father everything. The father told him to buy the skin. He told him to break the bees from the tree and bring them. The son did as his father said. The father made a clay drum and put thousands of bees in it. He closed the mouth of the drum with the skin. The son ran to the palace with the drum.

He handed the drum to the king and said: Your Majesty, take this my drum. It plays without music.

In fact, thousands of bees were humming and singing and hitting the drum skin. That's why there was a kind of buzzing sound inside. It seemed that the drum was playing without music. The king was very happy to see this drum. He recognized the boy. He wanted to give the boy forty thousand taka along with the previous prize. The boy did not want to take it.

He said: I do not want money. Your blessings are my reward.

The king called the boy close and asked: You have solved three mysteries one after the other. Where did you get so much wisdom?

The boy said: Your Majesty, if you are not afraid, you can tell me.

The king said: You can tell me without any fear.

The boy said: My father has solved all three mysteries. I have presented the solutions to you with the wisdom from him. The boy told the king how he brought his father back instead of sending him to the forest, but kept him in the cave. The king did not get angry at all. He understood that when a person becomes old, he becomes wise. He has a lot of wisdom. The wisdom of the old people is beneficial to the society. Without them, the society becomes stagnant.

The king now issued a law: Old parents cannot be sent to the forest. The king gave the boy a reward of two lakh rupees. The boy brought his father out of the cave. He started living very happily. Other people in the country also began to live peacefully with their elderly parents.