A Valuable Lesson

A teacher and his student, a rich young man, were walking in the country. The teacher was a follower of the Prince of Peace; the young man was not. As they walked along, they saw a pair of old shoes lying in the grass alongside the road.

“I wonder if these belong to anyone?” wondered the young man.

“Most likely they belong to the man working in the field over there. I presume this is his coat,” answered the teacher.

Suddenly the young man laughed. “Let’s have some fun! Let’s hide his shoes and sit behind these bushes. I can’t wait to see his face when he finds his shoes are gone!”

“James,” said his teacher sternly, “we should never amuse ourselves by giving pain to others, and especially to the poor or handicapped. I’ll tell you a much better way to have some fun. Put a silver coin in each of his shoes, for you can easily afford it. Then we’ll hide and see what he does when he finds the money.”

The young man cheerfully agreed, and they hid behind the bushes. As the sun was nearing the horizon the man would soon finish his day’s work. Soon the two men saw the man wearily make his way out of the field to the place where he had left his coat and shoes. As he slipped his foot into one of his shoes, he felt something hard. He stooped down and found the silver coin. How surprised the poor man was! He stared at it and turned it over and over in his hand. Then he looked around him to see if perhaps someone had dropped it, but he could see no one. Then he slipped the money into his pocket and began to put on his other shoe. But how great was his astonishment when he found the other coin! This was more than he could stand. His feelings overwhelmed him. He looked up to heaven and poured out aloud his thanksgiving to God. The tears rolled down his cheeks as he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children, without food. They would be delivered from suffering by this unexpected treasure.

The teacher and the young man could not help shedding tears as they saw and heard all this. The young man was deeply impressed. As they made their way homeward, he thanked his teacher for the good lesson he had taught him.

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