In which today's story is all about parents and children and farms

Treasure in the Vineyard  (Aesop, ancient Greece)

There once was a farmer with three lazy sons.  There is nothing new in that!

 

This farmer needed to take a long journey.  This trip would take him away from home for a year or more.  

 

He worried about his children, but he also worried about his vineyards. He worried that his sons would neglect the vines.  He knew that his good farm could easily fall into ruin.

 

Before he went away, he called his sons to him, and told them that, in his youth, he had buried a pot of gold in the vineyard.  

 

“But alas,” he said, “after all these years, I no longer remember where I put it.  I know that it is not buried deeply—only a foot or so beneath the surface.  If you dig it up, all of you can live from that wealth all of your days.”

 

The sons worked hard that year in the vineyards.  

 

They spaded up one row, and then another.  They spaded up the entire vineyard.  

 

But they did not find a pot of gold.

 

Still, because of their hard work, the vines flourished.  The crop was more plentiful than ever.  

 

The farm made more money than ever before.

 

When the farmer returned home at last, he saw that his sons had become fine custodians of the farm, and the vineyards, in turn, provided wealth for all of their days.