One Earned Ruble

A man had a very lazy son. The son didn’t want to do anything and couldn’t earn a single penny. His father fed him as long as he could, but eventually, the father grew old, fell ill, and could no longer manage. The old man lay down in bed, called his wife, and said:
— I will leave all my property to someone else, I won’t leave anything to my son—he’s a lazybones, good for nothing, he can’t even earn a ruble.
The mother felt sorry for her son and stood up for him:
— How can you say he can’t earn a ruble?!
But the husband stood his ground:
— Well, if he can, let him go and earn a ruble—then I’ll leave him all my property.
— Fine, — said the wife.

She went to her son, gave him a ruble, and instructed him:
— Go somewhere until evening, and when you come back, give this ruble to your father and say you earned it yourself.

The son did as he was told. He came back in the evening, brought the ruble, and said to his father:
— I’ve worn myself out for this ruble, it was hard to earn.
The father took the ruble, sniffed it, and threw it into the fireplace.
— You didn’t earn this! — he said to his son.
The son laughed and left. What could the mother do? She gave him another ruble and said:
— Go, even if you spend the whole day doing nothing, but in the evening, run a couple of miles—so you’ll sweat. Then come to your father and say:
— I earned this ruble with my own sweat.

The son did as he was told. He came back in the evening, tired and sweaty, rushed to his father, and said:
— See, father, I’m all sweaty, this ruble was hard-earned.
The father took the ruble, sniffed it, and threw it into the fireplace as well.
— You can’t fool me, son, — he said, — you didn’t earn this money.
The son didn’t care about any of it, laughed again, and left.

The mother realized things were bad and said to her son:
— You see, son, we can’t fool him. You’ll have to work yourself. Go and work, even if you earn just three pennies a day, in a week you’ll have a ruble. Bring it to your father, and he’ll believe you.

The son listened. He went and actually worked for a whole week. He did odd jobs for people, carried things, and managed to earn a ruble, which he brought to his father.

The old man sniffed the money and threw it into the fireplace.
— No, son, you didn’t earn this either, — he said.

The son couldn’t take it anymore. He rushed to the fireplace, dug the money out of the fire with his bare hands, and shouted at his father:
— Have you gone mad, father?! I worked my back off for a whole week to earn this money, and you’re burning it in the fire!

Then the father said:
— Now I believe you earned this ruble yourself—your heart ached for it. You see, son, how hard it is to earn money with your own hands. If you work, you’ll have; if you don’t work, you’ll starve.

With these words, the father bequeathed all his property to his son and then passed away to the place from which no one returns.

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One Earned Ruble

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