Why He Worked Hard

A poor man sat on the pavement, repairing the umbrellas of passersby. He performed his work thoroughly and with great devotion.

Another man, who was relaxing and leaning against a wall while watching him, asked, “Why don’t you work faster?”

“If I work faster, the quality of my work would suffer,” the umbrella-mender calmly replied.

“What difference would that make?” the onlooker asked again. “Can the umbrella owners immediately find out if the work is defective?”

“No, they won’t discover the issue until perhaps the next monsoon.”

“Then why do you bother?” the man inquired.

“I don’t bother for myself. In fact, I won’t be here for long. But if my work proves to be subpar, then the next umbrella-mender who sits here may not earn the trust of customers; he may struggle to find many,” explained the umbrella-mender.