The Evil Sons

There once lived a rich old man with his three sons. The sons cared only about their father’s money, which they were going to inherit once he died. They all believed their father would only pick one heir, who would get everything. The sons thought it all depended on who looked after their father best, so this turned into a constant competition between them.

One morning, the old man woke up feeling very weak. He thought his last day had come and that death had arrived to take him. He called up all his sons, and divided his wealth justly between them. But after a few days, his weakness eased off and he lived on. However, having become rich, the brothers stopped taking care of the old man at once. They treated him with cruelty and disrespect, blaming him for costing them too much of their time and money.

Their awful behaviour was like a knife to the father’s heart. So when he met an old friend of his a few days later, he told him everything about his struggle. He told him how he had given his sons everything, hoping that in good faith they would still take good care of him, and how they had treated him ever since. His friend listened carefully to the old man’s story. When he finished, his friend promised to think it through and visit him once he had figured out how to help him.

As he said, so it was. After a few days he paid a visit to the old man with three large bags full of stones. He brought them on a cart driven by a small pony and made sure the old man’s sons were watching, as he was unloading the heavy bags from the…