The Consequences of Wastefulness

 

































Long ago, there lived a very rich man who lead a wasteful and squanderous life.  

He was so extravagant and profligate that the waste-pipe leading out of his house was full of grains of white rice A Buddhist monk who lived nearby was so shocked by this wastefulness that he made a habit of fishing the rice out of the drainpipe, drying it in the sun and storing it away.  As time passed, the monk accumulated quite a large quantity of rice. 

A few years later, the rich man met with bad luck and lost all his fortune.  

He became so poor that he and his family had to beg for food. One day, the man and his wife came to beg at the pagoda.  

The Buddhist monk who was once their neighbor gave them all the rice he had collected over the years and explained where he had found it.  

The rich man and his wife were deeply ashamed, and truly regretted their squanderous lifestyle.
(thesoulandyou.blogspot.com - Source: Thư Viện Hoa Sen)


BUDDHA'S TEACHINGS
Written in Vietnamese by C.L., Translated into English by P. Faulkner 
and illustrated by Quang Đặng