Tk Aleng, Xiao Fa, Tong, Xiao Qingge, come get your coins and then go build the tower! That was when I was very, very young. After dinner, I would move a small stool and nestle in my grandmother's lap, listening to her tell me stories.
At that time, my family was very poor. In winter, we could only have two meals a day. Grandma worked all day. Looking at her thin face, I don't know why, but tears would uncontrollably flow from my eyes.
“Long ago,” Grandma said slowly. “In a very, very distant place, there lived two brothers whose parents had died early. The older brother took all the houses left by the parents and only left an old animal and a broken shed for the younger brother.” Grandma looked at me with loving eyes, paused for a moment, and continued, “The older brother, having houses and land, married early, but the younger brother remained single.”
I looked up at the stars and listened as Grandma continued: “Although the younger brother was poor, he was kind-hearted, good-natured, and enjoyed helping others. Eventually, one day, he moved the spirits. On a night of flashing lightning and roaring thunder, a white-bearded old man came to the younger brother's house and told him that far to the east there was a mountain called Sun Mountain. Sun Mountain was filled with gold, which he could take freely. But he had to leave before the sun rose; otherwise, once the sun came up, it would burn people away.
The younger brother followed the old man's instructions and indeed reached Sun Mountain. Seeing the mountain full of gold, he only took a little and hurried away. Back home, he used the gold to buy a house and land. Soon, he married and lived a happy life. The older brother, puzzled, went to ask the younger brother. Being honest, the younger brother told him the truth. The next day, the older brother grabbed a big bag and rushed to Sun Mountain. When he arrived, seeing the golden mountains, he was overjoyed, filled his bag full of gold, could hardly carry it, and still refused to leave. Then the sun rose and burned him away.”
Grandma sighed long and said, “One should not be too greedy!” I was too young at the time to understand what she meant and even less to grasp the lesson of the story. Only when I became a mother did I repeatedly tell this story to my child.
In today's society, countless people are like the older brother in the story, being burned away by the merciless, invisible sun—especially officials and those in power.Originally, their lives were already very privileged, living in high-rise buildings, driving luxury cars, and accompanied by beautiful women. They hoped for millions, then tens of millions, and then hundreds of millions. In the end, they could only end up being corrupt, imprisoned, and losing both wealth and family. When one corrupt official falls, millions more rise, repeating their performances and repeating their fates on the grand stage of history. Although there is a lot of gold on Sun Mountain, it belongs to the state and the people. Whatever you take today, you will obediently give up tomorrow. I often ask myself, if I had power and influence like them, would I also be insatiably greedy? I often remind myself: 'The word for greed has a knife on top; one must live by the principle of not neglecting small acts of kindness and not committing even small acts of evil.' When I was a child, I heard many stories from my grandmother, but for some reason, as the years passed, I have forgotten most of them.
Share a little story, everyone come
Replies (16)
The sofa has arrived
A loud bang in the sky, shining against the heavens as it makes its debut
So few coins... and you still have the nerve?!
Also... I really am making up my homework...
Tongtong, how much is it to make up one night of homework?
Dark horse: not 80, only 50
Poor person on the 4th floor, still has to do homework..
I start school tomorrow...
Tripped again
It's really nice to have no homework
Those who are not greedy are all inside
Let me tell you a story. The story goes like this: Once upon a time, there was a person named Yueyuan who, in order to have more money, created a money-printing machine. The banknotes produced by this machine were not only indistinguishable from real ones, but could also be circulated! From then on, Yueyuan became a somewhat influential figure in that world, enjoying a period of splendor, and even some countries benefited in a 'small' way from his contributions. Yueyuan used to be capricious with money. He made many inappropriate remarks, including the extremely improper statement that all women are bitches, and he also spent money to hire people to curse at others. However, after doing all these things, he was not punished. Of course, now he has stopped. Even though Yueyuan committed many evil deeds, to this day he has not faced any punishment...
→_→ Is it called Shuiyue Nianhua?
I went
...seems to be emotionally moved
Goodbye?
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