In bygone days, there lived a miserly man. He had ordered some glass panes for the windows of his house. The glazier placed the glass panes in a box and said to the man, “Call a porter to take this box to your house, and I will come in the afternoon to install the glass panes.”
Being a miserly man, he called several porters… but could not agree with them on the price!
His gaze fell on a young man, and he said to him, “If you carry this box to my house for me, I will give you three pieces of advice that will serve you well in life.”
The young porter, who had just arrived in town, accepted the miser’s words. The porter put the box on his shoulders and set off towards the man’s house.
As they walked a little, the porter said, “It’s better to say your words one by one along the way!”
The miser pondered for a moment. It was near noon, and he was very hungry.
He said to the porter, “Firstly, eating when you’re full is better than being hungry, and if someone tells you hunger is better than satiety, listen, but don’t believe it!”
Hearing these words, the porter became upset because even a child knew this, but he thought maybe the other advice would be better than this one!
They continued on their way until they had passed more than half of the journey…
The porter asked, “Well, what’s your second advice?”
The man, who couldn’t think of anything, thought to himself, “I wish I had a four-legged animal, and I could carry my load home without any trouble.”
Suddenly, something came to his mind, and he said, “Yes, my second advice is, if they say walking is better than riding, listen, but don’t believe it!”
The porter became very upset and thought he might have made a mistake in agreeing to carry this man’s load, but he still didn’t say anything.
They had now reached near the man’s house when the porter said, “Tell me your third advice, I hope this one is better than the others…”
The miser was happy that the porter had carried his burdens to his house for free and said to the man, “If someone says there is a better porter than you, listen, but don’t believe it!”
The man was very angry with the miser’s words and thought he should teach this man a lesson. So when he wanted to put the box on the ground, he let it fall with force to the ground…
Then he turned to the miser and said, “If someone says the glass in this box is intact, listen, but don’t believe it!”
* Since then, when someone speaks nonsense to deceive others or to please them, it is said; listen, but don’t believe it! *
