317th story

A funeral procession was passing along a road. A poor man was standing by the roadside with his young son.

The boy watched the people carrying the body and asked his father,

“Father, what is it that they are carrying?”

The father replied calmly,

“It is a human being.”

The boy thought for a moment and then asked,

“Where are they taking him?”

The father said,

“They are taking him to a place where there is no food and no clothing, no bread and no water, no gold and no silver, no mat and no carpet. Nothing of what people spend their lives collecting.”

The boy looked surprised, paused, and then said innocently,

“Father… are they taking him to our house?”

This short story gently reminds us that we all leave the world with nothing. Wealth, comfort, possessions, power, and pride do not follow us.

In the end, every human departs empty, just like the poor, who already live without excess. So why should there be poor people in this wealthy world? Why should some sleep on empty stomach?

We all leave this world exactly like a poor person, so why not help others who are trying very hard to survive?