The return ticket
There were two friends. One of the friends was rich, and one was poor. The rich one said to the poor one, “I have only one daughter and no son. You know I have so much money and property. Please find a very handsome and wise young man for my daughter.”The friend said, “You are so miserly! Even if I find someone, you will not give your money to your son-in-law. You will not even give money to your daughter.”
The rich one said, “What shall I do with my money if I do not give it to my own daughter?”
The poor one said, “No, you are so bad that you will ask people to put your money in your coffin when you die. You know that if you want to go to Heaven, you have to buy a ticket.”
In a few months’ time, the poor friend brought two young men to his rich friend and said, “Now you choose a husband for your daughter. I have brought these two young men. It is up to you to make the choice.”
The two young men had come together by train from a distant village. One of them had bought only a one-way ticket and the other one had bought a round-trip ticket. The man asked them several questions, and then he decided whom to choose. He said to the fellow who had bought only a one-way ticket, “You go home. I do not need you.”
This fellow said to his friend, “I have to go now. He has chosen you. Since you are not going back, can you not give me your ticket? Mine was only a one-way ticket, whereas yours is round-trip. Can you give me the other part of your ticket so that I can go home happily?”
Then the rich man said, “No, no, I have changed my mind!” He said to the second young man, “You go home with your round-trip ticket.”
Then he asked the first young man, “Why did you buy a one-way ticket?”
The clever young man said, “I knew that if you chose my friend and I had to go back, I would be able to ask my friend to give me his return ticket. Again, if you chose me, I would not need to buy another ticket.”
The rich man immediately said, “You are the right person to marry my daughter!”