The Treasure Chest

Once upon a time, there was a young man. He neither worked nor studied. Unlike his father, who was a hard working blacksmith, he was content to let time go idly by.

One day, the blacksmith said, "My son, you are not so young anymore, and still all you do all day is eat and play. You have never even earned a dollar in your entire life. What are you going to do with yourself?"

"Dad, it really isn't that big a deal to earn a dollar, is it?"

The father answered as he brought out a heavy and yet handsome looking box, "Son, if you can earn yourself a dollar, this family treasure chest will be yours to keep".

The young man was overjoyed. He figured if he could get this chest of treasure, he would be able to eat and drink and be merry all his life. He really wanted the treasure chest - provided that he didn't have to work for it. So he paced back and forth in his room, trying to think up a plan to do just that, but without much success. His mother saw that her son was really discouraged, so she gave him a dollor without letting the father know about it.

"Dad. dad. I've earned a dollar. The treasure chest is mine!"

The blacksmith took the dollar from his son, turned around and threw it right into the furnance and said angrily to his son, "No, You didn't earn the money."

Frustrated, the young man went back to his room. Fearing that her son might get sick from depression, the mother gave him another dollar.

This time the young man figured that he had to outsmart his father. So he took the money, went and walked a couple miles before he huffed and puffed his way home.

"Dad, I really earned the money this time."

The father took the money and threw it into the fire just like he did last time, and said,"You didn't earn this either. "

The son got so frustrated he went to lie in his bed refusing to get up.

The mother said to him, "Son, your father is only doing this for your own good. If you really want that treasure chest, I'm afarid you're going to have to work for it."

So the young man set out to look for a job. It took him days and not until his shoes were worn out before he finally landed a job as a blacksmith about ten miles away from home.

Thus the son started his career of forging iron. His face appeared to be almost glowing from the intense heat of the fire, and he had never sweated more profusely in his life. The wages of a full day's labour was about five cents. He began to appreciate how hard his father had to work every day. He stopped spending money frivolously.

Twenty seemingly endless days finally came to past. The young man rushed home with his twenty nickels.

"Dad, look, I've finally earned a dollar!"

The father took the money and after counting it, he flung the twenty nickels into the fire.

The son got really excited as he screamed from the top of his lung, "How could you do this? I earned the money with my hard work."

"Ha, ha!" the father said happily,"Now I know that you really did earn this dollar. You wouldn't have valued it so much if you hadn't toiled and sweated for it! Come, here's the chest of treasure for you. "

The father hauled out the chest and opened it. Inside, there was no treasures, only the tools of a blacksmith.

"My son, this is no jewelry and gold, yet this will benefit you for the rest of your life."

As the young man gratefully accepted the chest from his father, he understood that indeed, the most precious things in life were those earned with one's own hard work.

- S.Y. Fan
- Harry Ng