Once there was a very rich old man who hated to spend money. He so
much detested the idea of spending any of his riches, that he kept his entire
fortune hidden. In the back of a young farmer’s barn, under the bales of hay, the
old man buried his gold. No one but he knew where the gold was hidden. And
each night, the old man would sneak into the young farmer’s barn and stare at his
gold. He did this because nothing gave him so much pleasure as seeing all of this
wealth before him.
Then, after several years of hiding more and more gold and visiting the
young farmer’s barn each night, the old man was shocked to go there one evening
and find all of his gold missing. There was not a single coin, not a single bar, not a
single ring, nor a single necklace in the young farmer’s barn anymore. Someone
had stolen the old man’s wealth, and he was furious.
Angrily, the old man went to the young farmer first, banging on the door
and demanding to know what happened to his gold. Unfortunately for the old
man, the young farmer had no idea what he was talking about. He even allowed
the old man to search the farmhouse to prove his innocence. And after practically
turning the home upside down, the old man realized that the farmer was telling
the truth. The farmhouse was hardly even decorated, and there was no evidence
that the farmer ever knew that the old man was storing money in the barn, much
less that the farmer had stolen the money.
But being a kind young man, he offered to help the old man search for his
gold. Together, they went from house to house, town to town, looking for the gold
or for the person who may have stolen it. After a long time, and without any luck
in finding the guilty party, the young farmer and the old man sat down to talk.
“I can imagine how upset you must be, sir” said the young farmer. “Were
you going to use the money to buy yourself a nice home or fancy clothes or
something else that you’ve always wanted?”
“No,” replied the old man.
“Were you planning on spending it on your wife or your family or your
friends, so that they might have something they truly treasure?” the farmer asked.
“No,” replied the old man.
“Were you going to donate the money to a worthy cause, hoping that it
would be put to good use?”
“No,” the old man said again. “I just enjoyed looking at it. I enjoyed going
into the barn and staring at all the money I had.”
The farmer thought for a few moments and then said, “Come with me,
please.”
The old man followed the young farmer back to the barn where the money
had been stolen. They walked to the bales of hay in the back of the barn, and the
old man showed the young farmer where he once sat and stared at his riches. The
farmer told him to sit down and look again at where the riches once were. The old
man did, but had a puzzled look on his face.
“Why should I stare at where my money once was? It is no longer there
anymore!” said the old man.
“That’s true, sir” said the young farmer, “but since you never once used
your wealth for anything--not for yourself, for your loved ones, or for strangers--it
should do you just as much good to sit there and stare at nothing like a fool.”
