The Treasure in the fire-place

 There was once a peasant who

led Aard and miserable life. Though he worked in his' field from morning till

night, he was very poor. Although he tried to make his life better, he suffered

for many years.

One morning, after he had

recited his morning prayers, the peasant said, "Lord, all these years I

have honoured Thee and I have never done anything wicked. Yet, though I work

from sun­rise till sunset I am still very poor. Lord, please give me some

wealth to lighten my hardship. Put some treasure under my chimney. Then I will know that it has come from

you alone."

After

murmuring this prayer the peasant went to work in his field. A few clays went by

but nothing unusual happened. Every morning the peasant looked in the

fire-place under the chimney but he saw only ashes. He did not give up hope and

repeated his prayer each day.

One afternoon while he was ploughing his field, the peasant tore

his sleeve on a bush. He did not want

this to happen again so the peasant dug up the bush. As he pulled it out he saw something buried in the soft earth under

the roots" quickly the peasant

made the hole bigger and dug deeper, until he saw what was hidden in the

soil. It was a big, earthenware pot. The

peasant took the pot out of the hole and opened the lid. The pot was full of silver coins!

"O Lord!" exclaimed

the peasant, "You have answered my prayer!"

Just as he was about to pick up

the pot and take it home, a thought came into his head.

"No, it is not true that

the Lord has heard my prayers," he said to himself.

"I asked him to put some

treasure in the fire-place under my chimney.

Only if I find the treasure there, then only can I be sure that it is from the

Lord. Therefore this silver is not mine."

So the peasant closed the pot

and put the treasure back in the hole.

When he went home he told his

wife what had happened. When she knew that the peasant had left all that wealth

in his field, his wife grew very angry.

"You stupid fellow! What

does it matter where you find the treasure? It is silver coins and can help us

escape from this poverty. Go back to the field and bring the pot here!"

But

whatever she said, the peasant refused to get the sil­ver.

He firmly believed that the only

treasure he could keep would

be that found under his chimney.

When his wife knew that she could not

change his mind she was furious. She

went to her neighbour and told him about the pot full of silver coins.

"Please, dear

neighbour," she said, "go to our field and take that pot and let us

share the treasure."

The neighbour was overjoyed

when he heard her story. Al­though it was now dark, he went at once to get the

treasure. Holding a lighted oil lamp in his

hand he went to the field. It

was easy for him to find the freshly dug hole. The man took the pot out and

opened the lid. But what a shock he got! Instead of silver coins he saw poisonous snakes slithering and wriggling in the pot. Quickly he put the

lid back on again.

"What a mean and nasty woman my neighbour's wife is!" he muttered to

himself. "What a horrible trick

she has played on me. If I had put my hand in the pot, I would be dead

now. Perhaps she wanted that to happen. Perhaps she is angry with me for one

reason or another. But I'll teach her a lesson! "

The angry man picked up the pot

and carried it home. He waited until midnight when his neighbours were fast

asleep. Then he climbed onto the roof of their house and threw the pot down the

chimney into the fire-place beneath it: Then he re­turned home satisfied with

what he had done.

The next

morning, after saying his prayers, the peasant looked as usual in his fire-place. There, among

the black ashes was the earthenware pot he

had dug up in his field the after­noon before. It was broken into many

pieces and among the pot fragments he saw countless silver coins!

"Praised be the

Lord!" the peasant exclaimed in delight. He knelt down and raising his

hands in joy, he said, "Lord, now I can take this treasure, for

you have put it in my fire-place as I begged You to. Now I know that this

wealth is really meant for me. How can I

thank You?"

In this

way, God rewarded someone who trusted in Him.

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