The lost rupees

There was once a very good worker. He used to work very, very hard during the entire day. At the end of the day he would go to his boss and receive five rupees. For his whole day’s work his salary was only five rupees. One day his boss gave him a ten-rupee note and said, “Give me five rupees change.”

The worker said, “I have no money to give you change.”

The boss said, “Then I cannot pay you.”

The worker pleaded, “Can you not give me the ten rupees? You know that tomorrow I will definitely come. You can pay me for tomorrow in advance.”

The boss said, “No, no, no, I do not trust you.”

The worker said, “I have worked the whole day from early morning until now. On a daily basis you give me five rupees. Today you have a ten-rupee note. You know that tomorrow I will come and work. Can you not give it to me?”

The boss said again, “No, no, I do not trust you. You may not come.”

The worker was very, very sad that this had happened. The boss said, “Tomorrow you come and at the end of the day I will give you five rupees for today and five for tomorrow.”

The worker said, “But today I have to buy food for tomorrow. I entirely depend on your five rupees to eat.”

The boss said, “Are you arguing with me?” Then the boss gave him a very smart slap.

The man was so miserable. He was not getting any money, and then he received this kind of treatment. At that moment, a friend of the boss, a jeweller, passed by. He asked, “What is happening? Why is that worker crying?”

The boss said, “He is a rogue. He has finished working. I have only a ten-rupee note. He is unable to give me five rupees back, so I did not give him his salary for today and, what is worse, now he is arguing with me.”

The friend asked, “He is not arguing. He is simply stating his case. He is such a humble man. But I can easily solve this problem. Give me the ten-rupee note.”

The friend took ten rupees from the boss and gave him a five-rupee note in return. The boss gave the five-rupee note to the worker. Then the friend said, “I owe you five rupees.”

The boss asked, “When will you give me the five rupees that you still owe me?”

The friend said, “When the time comes, I may give you back your five rupees. You are such a bad fellow. This man is a very sincere worker and you were refusing to pay him. The more I think about it, the more I am determined not to give you back your five rupees.”

Then the boss said, “All right. I am not going to force you to return my five rupees. It is better to keep our friendship than to get my five rupees back.”