As You Sow, So Shall You Reap

A very, very long time ago, a father and a mother lived in a small village. They made a living by farming in their small field. Their life was very peaceful and happy, but one thing always made them feel sad in their hearts—they had no children.They had a small dog whose name was 'Seture'. They loved him very much, just like their own child. They would even give the delicious food they were supposed to eat to Seture without eating it themselves. Seture's color was as white as milk, so everyone called him 'Seture'.The most pleasant time for the father and Seture used to be the evening. When the father returned after working in the fields all day long, he would save a small portion from his food and sit on the porch. Seture would also be sitting there waiting, wondering if his master would give him something delicious.As soon as the father said, "Come on, ask for it!", Seture would stand on his two legs and ask for food. Then, the father would lovingly give him the food.But in their neighborhood lived another old man and his old woman, who were very wicked and cruel. They did not like the kind father-mother and Seture at all.Whenever Seture sometimes appeared near their kitchen, they would kick him or hit him with stones. Sometimes, they would even cause injuries to the poor Seture.One day, Seture went to the field behind his house and started barking for a long time. The father thought that perhaps birds were trying to eat the corn and Seture was trying to drive them away. He hurriedly went to the field.As soon as Seture saw his master, he became happy, wagging his tail. He caught the hem of the father's clothes with his teeth and began to pull him under a large tree. Upon reaching there, he started digging the ground with his paws and began to bark happily.The father could not understand anything and kept watching in surprise. But Seture did not stop barking and digging. The father thought, "Something must surely be hidden under this tree, and Seture has gotten a scent of it."He rushed to the house and brought a spade. When he started digging in that place, he was completely astounded! There was a huge pile of old and precious gold coins. The more he kept digging, the more gold coins began to be found.The father was so engrossed in his work that he did not even realize that the neighbor's envious eyes were watching him. All the gold coins were shining on the ground. Seture, on the other hand, was sitting proudly next to his master. It was as if he was saying, "Look, even though I am a dog, I can repay the debt of love you showed me in this way."The father ran and called the mother, and both together brought all the wealth into the house. In this way, in a single day, those poor father and mother became rich. They began to love and care for their honest dog Seture even more.That greedy neighbor was also watching all of this. He too grew greedy to earn a lot of wealth. After a few days, he came to the father's house and, flattering him a lot, asked to borrow Seture for some time.The father knew that the neighbor always used to beat and cause trouble to Seture. Even so, the father was very kind and soft-hearted. Saying, "Take good care of him," he sent Seture along with the neighbor.That wicked neighbor laughed, thinking of bad things in his mind. He took a spade and forcibly dragged Seture to his field. Upon reaching under a large tree, he threatened Seture and said, "If there was gold under your master's tree, there must surely be gold under my tree too. Find it and show me quickly! Where is it?"He grabbed Seture's neck and pressed his head toward the ground. Seture began to scratch the ground to escape from that man's hands. That man became happy. He thought, "Oh, there is surely gold here!" He flung Seture away and began digging himself.But instead of gold, only a pile of rotten filth was found there, from which an extremely foul smell was coming.That man was filled with rage. Instead of blaming his own greed, he blamed poor Seture. In a fit of anger, he struck Seture with the spade, killed him right there, and buried him with soil in the place where the pit was dug.When Seture did not return for many days, the father became worried. He went to the neighbor's place and asked about his dog. That sinful neighbor, without feeling even a bit of shame, said, "That naughty dog troubled me, so I killed it."Hearing this, the father cried a lot. He did not scold the neighbor at all for Seture being killed; instead, he asked for the tree where Seture was buried. The neighbor agreed to it too. The father cut down that tree, brought it back, and made a mortar out of its wood.The father and mother decided to bake bread in memory of Seture. When the mother put rice into that mortar and began to pound it, a wonderful magic happened! Even a little rice began to increase on its own and become a lot. As they watched, delicious breads began to come out of the mortar on their own.They felt that this was a gift sent by Seture himself. Now they never had any trouble regarding food. But that greedy neighbor found out about this again and, telling a lie, asked to borrow that mortar as well. The kind father gave the mortar once again.That greedy man took it home and started pounding rice in the mortar, but only foul-smelling filth came out from there again. In a fit of anger, he broke that mortar into pieces and burned it in the fire. When the father went to ask for his mortar back, the neighbor gave him only the ash from that burning.The father brought that ash home. One day, he mistakenly scattered that ash on the dry trees in the field. As soon as the ash landed on the trees, new shoots began to grow on the dry branches and flowers began to bloom abundantly. The dry garden looked beautiful in a mere moment.This news spread and reached the king's ears. A favorite tree in the king's garden had dried up. The king summoned the father to the palace. In front of the king, the father scattered the ash on the dry tree. As soon as the ash was scattered, that tree became filled with beautiful flowers.The king was so happy that he gifted the father a lot of gold and silver. The king named him 'The Father Who Makes Trees Bloom' and sent him home with respect. Seeing this, the greedy neighbor gathered the remaining ash again and began to shout, calling himself 'The Man Who Makes Trees Bloom'.The king summoned him to the palace too. But when he scattered the ash on the tree, no flowers bloomed. Instead, that ash flew up and landed in the king's eyes.The king became very angry and threw that lying man into prison. In this way, that wicked man received the punishment for his sins.