In that particular village there was one man who was an expert diver. The young girl immediately thought of him and she went and asked him if he could dive into the well and find her earring. The diver told her that it was quite possible, but when he quoted his fee, it was exorbitant.
The young girl told him, “I cannot afford to hire you.”
All the neighbours were extremely sympathetic to the young girl’s plight, but they did not come to her rescue. She did not know where to turn.
Evening fell. A thief happened to pass by the well in the midst of the commotion. Everybody knew that this fellow was a thief, but nobody had been able to catch him in the act. He paid no attention to the girl’s crying and weeping and continued on his way.
Finally, the girl returned home and the neighbours also went home. Late that night the thief came back to the well and very quietly entered into the water. He took a breath and dove to the bottom, but came up empty-handed. He tried again and again, but it was taking time for him to find the earring in the dark. After repeated unsuccessful attempts, he used a very bad word, a curse word. The neighbours woke up and came to the place saying, “Who is shouting there?”
They discovered the thief inside the well searching for the earring. The neighbours pulled the poor thief out of the well and thrashed him soundly. Then the neighbours became very sympathetic to the young girl and gave money to her to pay the expert diver to bring up the earring. She hired him and eventually he brought out her earring.From:Sri Chinmoy,Life’s bleeding tears and flying smiles, part 6, Agni Press, 2001
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