A Matter of Patience

Govind of Shyampur was quite wealthy, but he alone knew what he intended to do with his fortune. He hardly ever spent it.

His only son’s birthday was approaching, and he bought a piece of cloth to make a set of shorts and a shirt for the boy. He handed it over to the village tailor, who promised to have the garments ready on the eve of the boy’s birthday. However, Govind had no intention of paying the tailor his dues. On the day before the boy’s birthday, he had to go out to town and briefed his son on how to retrieve his clothes from the tailor without making any payment.

But when Govind returned home on the morning of his son’s birthday, he was surprised to find the boy still in his old clothes.

“The tailor refused to give me the clothes until you paid him what you owe!” exclaimed the boy.

“Did you tell him what I had instructed you to say?” asked Govind.

“I told him that Father thought I was too young to carry money,” the boy replied. “But he said he would keep the clothes until I grew up enough to bring him the payment.”