The Treasure
He came to the end of the road. He stopped the car and got out. The road had taken him to a picturesque small hamlet located on the top of the mountain. The scent of the delicate wildflowers gently caressed him. Inhaling deeply that heavenly fragrance he felt an inner peace, a new feeling never experienced in his life. He looked around stunningly at the incredible nature. The vast pine forest embraced the small hamlet like a precious pearl in its shell. The tall evergreen trees swayed by the warm summer wind looked like they wanted to greet their unexpected guest for welcoming accompanied by the delicate little songbirds who sang merrily their loving songs. The sun was shining brightly, and the crystal blue sky looked like a brilliant diamond, which could be touched only from the heart.
Stunned by that natural beauty his heart suddenly sunk. He was born and lived in a small busy town, and due to the lack of money never had the chance to visit another place. Working hard from sunrise to sunset was all he knew about life. Never felt satisfied, never felt happiness. But only a week ago everything had changed. He found an old map of hidden treasure in a tattered book left in their local library by someone who had probably never opened a book in their life. Without wasting time, the day was chosen.
That morning, he left his home in pursuit of wealth. Only a few hours separated him from the gold.
When the thought of the buried gold took over his mind again, he took out the old map hidden deeply in his socket. He stared at it for a while, yet everything had changed with the time, so the map was completely useless. How could he find the stony chair in this vast forest? Suddenly his soul shrank. He felt a whiff of desperation. At that moment a loud voice startled him. He turned back and saw a middle-aged man, walking slowly towards him. His poor patched clothes and worn-out moccasins showed his poor life silently. A small black donkey followed him like a faithful friend who would never betray him.
“Hi, there! Are you OK?” – examined the old man.
“Hello, Uncle. Actually, I am looking for something. Could you please tell me, if you know where I can find a white stony chair, carved from a huge rock?”, asked the gold digger impatiently. The old man thought for a while then said tentatively that maybe he knew where it was. “Why do you need it?” That unexpected question made him suspicious about the poor man’s intention.
He was not sure whether to tell him the truth, because if the golden coins were still there then he would have to share them with this penniless person. On the other hand, without his help, it was impossible to find the stony chair. “Perhaps he would agree to a third of it” began to calculate in his mind. How easily a human soul falls into the trap of money!
He was waiting for so long to make his dream of being rich come true. If he did not sacrifice some of the gold coins, then he would have to say farewell to his dream.
Left with no choice he explained everything to that poor man about the old map and the gold. Then he offered him a deal if he agreed to show the place, he would receive a third of the golden coins.
The old man smiled, tied the donkey to a tree by the roadside and showed him the way. “Who could resist such a treasure buried a hundred years ago”, that thought swirled in his young mind followed by the second thought of having to share a part of the gold with an unknown person which made him feel uneasy.
The road they took was almost impassable in some places because of the wild bushes growing freely in their own territory undisturbed by hoofs for years. Their sharp thorns hurt both men’s legs, but the old one was used to them and patiently followed the narrow mountain path while the second one moaned and made strange noises every time when some merciless thorns were stabbing his gentle young legs as they knew his greedy soul and wanted to make him give up before reaching the stony chair. However, his determination to find the gold was stronger than those enemy wild bushes and finally the place was found, and the stony chair stood there, intact. It was carved out of a massive white rock that no manpower would be able to move. Without wasting a minute, the young man started digging furiously while the other one sat at the other side of the huge rock under a majestic oak tree who had grown up as if it had been a guardian to the treasure all those past years. The digging was not an easy job and took him a few hours, but in the end the hard work paid off. The man reached a big antic brown pot with carved signs on it buried deeply next to the white rock. It was full of gold coins. His eyes sparkled with euphoria. He could not believe his eyes. At first, he wondered if it was real, or if he was dreaming. But when his fingers touched the golden coins, screamed with happiness.
“Uncle, thanks to you I am wealthy now. As I promised I will give you your share”.
The old man smiled and said, “Don’t worry, my son. I won’t take a coin from it.”
He could not believe his ears and stared at him astonished.
“Since I have not put that treasure here it doesn’t belong to me”, replied the old man modestly.
Only a decent man could resist such a temptation.
