The strict village head

A head of a particular village was very nice and, at the same time, very strict. He would not allow anyone to be idle in his village. He said, “Idleness is a very serious crime. If anybody is idle, then that person will be punished.”

The village head was especially strict with the members of his own family. Early in the morning, at five o’clock, his wife and children had to get up to pray and meditate. Then they had to start working. If they did not get up on time, he would have his servants insult them badly. He himself also used to scold them and punish them in various ways. The villagers all loved the village head dearly because they knew that it was for their own good that he was so strict. The neighbouring villages also used to appreciate him. They especially admired the villagers’ dynamic qualities. This particular village was superior to the other villages in every way and everyone gave all the credit to the head of the village.

Every month the village head used to give a special talk about the village activities. He would say that what the villagers were doing was absolutely necessary for them to make progress and please God in His own Way. Everybody admired him and was fond of him.

One very cold winter evening he gave a very excellent talk. Afterwards, many villagers gave him gifts. Although he was very rich, they gave him gifts as tokens of their appreciation and admiration. They started throwing warm winter garments at him because they felt he might need them. Some were their own coats and shawls and some were presents. The poor man was suddenly buried under all the clothes. Then all the people in the audience started pushing towards him so that they could express their gratitude to him. Suddenly the crowd fell on the village head, and he suffocated to death.

All of the villagers were so shocked when they found out what had happened. Then the son of the village head took up the challenge. He said, “Now I will follow in the footsteps of my father. Like my father, I will also be very strict with the villagers. But I will also be very careful, especially if they ever throw gifts at me.”

The villagers were very sad that they had killed the village head and happy that his son had forgiven them and would take over his father’s job. The son told them, “You meant well. It was not that you wanted to kill him. You did this out of admiration.”