Better Cities:Wealth and Poverty

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Book Information
Wealth and Poverty
ID xx0982F0
Value 25 Weight 1.0
Locations
Found in the following locations:
  • Sold by book merchants and found in random containers as loot.
Wealth and Poverty
A lesson on appreciating what one has.

One rich man took his son to the village so that he could see with his own eyes how poor people are. They lived in a poor fishing village for several days, and later, when they returned to their rich home, the father asked:

"Son, do you now understand what it means to live in poverty?"

"Yes, father," answered the boy.

"Did our trip teach you anything?" continued the father.

"It taught me a lot!" answered the son.

"What then?"

"I realized that I have never met such good people!" answered the boy. "And how rich they are, dad!"

"Rich?!" the father was surprised.

"Of course they are rich!" answered the son. "Look, we have one dog living in our house, they have four! We have a pool in our yard, and they have a sea bay. We have a garden, they have endless forests. We have lanterns, and stars shine on them."

"But our family has almost everything!" the father was amazed.

"This is so," answered the son, "and yet all the time we want more, while they are grateful to the gods for what they have. We are beggars compared to those people."