As the sun filtered through the clouds and its vibrant rays warmed the lumpy den of thin mud-clay walls, three brothers Chados, Normos and Incelis emerged from their hut. They were fairly excited about their fishing trip they had planned on this very fine spring morning.
A few moments later their mother, Milday came out of the hut holding three bags. She gave them a bag each and said "Your fishing kits are in these bags. I'm providing each one of you with equal opportunities, now its your job to capitalize on them. And remember, the most hardworking man will be the most successful."
After biding farewell to their mother, the bothers set on their journey. They steadily treaded on the long path of stones with grass and weeds growing between them. And before the early morning sunlight, soft and diffused turned into strong rays of the day, they were at their destination.
The lake lay silver in the bright light of the noon sun. The rippled water ran right into the crevices, washing the soil from the rocks. Whilst admiring the beauty of the place, each one of them took a spot near the lake and set aside their bags.
Chados opened his bag and took out his fishing pole. He beamed with joy when he saw that a huge net was attached to the pole and worms in the bait box were fat and fleshy.
He quickly descended the net in the water and had barely waited a few seconds when he felt it getting heavier. He lifted it up and saw that a school of fish was already trapped in it. He emptied all of it in his bucket and went to take a nap under a tree.
Normos, watching this got excited and opened his bag. He took out his fishing pole and was devastated to find out that it didn't have a net and was also broken in half. However he was determined to perform better than Chados.
So he went into the woods and started looking for an adhesive material to stick his pole together. He roamed the woods for a long time when he finally stumbled across a tree covered with a sticky sap. He used it to fix his pole and went back to the lakeside.
He waited for hours with his fishing pole dipped in water but with no success. Just before dusk when he was about to give up he felt a tug in his pole. He was elated. But his elation soon turned into disappointment when he discovered that the fish he caught wasn't big or fleshy, rather it was thin and old and would barely fill his appetite. However there wasn't any other choice but to satisfy himself with that. He put it in his bucket and started packing for his return journey.
Meanwhile Incelis, who was watching them, felt that if his brothers could do it, he could too. So with a lot of hope in his heart, he opened his bag. A shock came to him when he saw that his bag was empty, there was no fishing pole or even a bait box. Tears welled up in his eyes and as he sat on the ground cursing his fate.
But then he remembered his mother's words about working hard. So he stood up and made his way into the forest with firm determination to make a fishing gear of his own. He roamed the woods for hours looking for a flexible yet strong tree. He finally stumbled across a pine tree and used its branch as a pole. Then he found a vine plant with long tendrils and used it as the fishing line. Next he searched for some worms to use as bait. He found an old decomposing bark with lots of worms inside it. Army ants even stung him while he was picking up the worms but he was too determined to give up.
With his fishing gear ready he made his way back to the lakeside. It was already past noon and the sun was blazing hot. He spend hours under the warmth of the sun with his fishing pole dipped in the lake but with zero success. Soon as the lake turned into a mirror for the full moon and trees hid their bold greens, dusk arrived. Incelis finally gave up all hope and started packing up with a heavy heart.
On the return journey Chados was beaming with joy as he mocked his brothers on their failures. Normos hung his head with disappointment but was at least happy that he had performed better than Incelis and all Incelis wanted to do was curl up in a corner and cry till the world came to an end.
Soon they were at their hut. As Milday opened the door, Chados hugged her and told her about his spoils. She was very happy for him. She could tell by the look on the faces of her other two sons that they hadn't performed well. So she made them sit around the fireplace and taught them a """valuable""" lesson.
She said - "I provided all three of you with equal opportunities but only Chados could capitalize on them because he worked hard and you two failed because you were too busy resting. There is no such thing as luck or hierarchy. Every person in this world is equal. What defines a person is his will to work hard and stand out.
Now as a reward for his hard work Chados will get more food tonight while you two will go to bed on a empty stomach for your laziness."
They departed and went to sleep. Next day Incelis roped and Normos lead a sad life till he succumbed to his inevitable fate.
A few moments later their mother, Milday came out of the hut holding three bags. She gave them a bag each and said "Your fishing kits are in these bags. I'm providing each one of you with equal opportunities, now its your job to capitalize on them. And remember, the most hardworking man will be the most successful."
After biding farewell to their mother, the bothers set on their journey. They steadily treaded on the long path of stones with grass and weeds growing between them. And before the early morning sunlight, soft and diffused turned into strong rays of the day, they were at their destination.
The lake lay silver in the bright light of the noon sun. The rippled water ran right into the crevices, washing the soil from the rocks. Whilst admiring the beauty of the place, each one of them took a spot near the lake and set aside their bags.
Chados opened his bag and took out his fishing pole. He beamed with joy when he saw that a huge net was attached to the pole and worms in the bait box were fat and fleshy.
He quickly descended the net in the water and had barely waited a few seconds when he felt it getting heavier. He lifted it up and saw that a school of fish was already trapped in it. He emptied all of it in his bucket and went to take a nap under a tree.
Normos, watching this got excited and opened his bag. He took out his fishing pole and was devastated to find out that it didn't have a net and was also broken in half. However he was determined to perform better than Chados.
So he went into the woods and started looking for an adhesive material to stick his pole together. He roamed the woods for a long time when he finally stumbled across a tree covered with a sticky sap. He used it to fix his pole and went back to the lakeside.
He waited for hours with his fishing pole dipped in water but with no success. Just before dusk when he was about to give up he felt a tug in his pole. He was elated. But his elation soon turned into disappointment when he discovered that the fish he caught wasn't big or fleshy, rather it was thin and old and would barely fill his appetite. However there wasn't any other choice but to satisfy himself with that. He put it in his bucket and started packing for his return journey.
Meanwhile Incelis, who was watching them, felt that if his brothers could do it, he could too. So with a lot of hope in his heart, he opened his bag. A shock came to him when he saw that his bag was empty, there was no fishing pole or even a bait box. Tears welled up in his eyes and as he sat on the ground cursing his fate.
But then he remembered his mother's words about working hard. So he stood up and made his way into the forest with firm determination to make a fishing gear of his own. He roamed the woods for hours looking for a flexible yet strong tree. He finally stumbled across a pine tree and used its branch as a pole. Then he found a vine plant with long tendrils and used it as the fishing line. Next he searched for some worms to use as bait. He found an old decomposing bark with lots of worms inside it. Army ants even stung him while he was picking up the worms but he was too determined to give up.
With his fishing gear ready he made his way back to the lakeside. It was already past noon and the sun was blazing hot. He spend hours under the warmth of the sun with his fishing pole dipped in the lake but with zero success. Soon as the lake turned into a mirror for the full moon and trees hid their bold greens, dusk arrived. Incelis finally gave up all hope and started packing up with a heavy heart.
On the return journey Chados was beaming with joy as he mocked his brothers on their failures. Normos hung his head with disappointment but was at least happy that he had performed better than Incelis and all Incelis wanted to do was curl up in a corner and cry till the world came to an end.
Soon they were at their hut. As Milday opened the door, Chados hugged her and told her about his spoils. She was very happy for him. She could tell by the look on the faces of her other two sons that they hadn't performed well. So she made them sit around the fireplace and taught them a """valuable""" lesson.
She said - "I provided all three of you with equal opportunities but only Chados could capitalize on them because he worked hard and you two failed because you were too busy resting. There is no such thing as luck or hierarchy. Every person in this world is equal. What defines a person is his will to work hard and stand out.
Now as a reward for his hard work Chados will get more food tonight while you two will go to bed on a empty stomach for your laziness."
They departed and went to sleep. Next day Incelis roped and Normos lead a sad life till he succumbed to his inevitable fate.
