The Pupil and the Shoes


One day a pupil and his teacher went for a walk. On the way they came across a pair of shoes which belonged to a poor man, who was working in a nearby garden.

The pupil said to the teacher: “Let us hide his shoes. We can then peep from behind some bushes and see what he does.” The teacher disagreed. He took two R5 coins from his pocket and handed them to his pupil, telling him to place a coin in each shoe.

They then hid behind some bushes to see what happened. The poor man soon finished his work and went to wear his shoes. First, he began to slip on his right shoe. He felt something hard in it and was amazed to find a R5 coin. He looked around him but saw no one. He then slipped on his left shoe and found another coin.

His eyes filled with tears. He made dua aloud for the kind person who had given him this gift, saying that he would use this money to buy food for his starving family.

The pupil’s eyes also filled with tears. He was thankful that they had done a good deed rather then playing his intended trick. He had learnt a lesson that he would never forget. It is better to do good and get peoples dua’s instead of doing evil and making people suffer and become sad.