A young man was taking a walk with a professor. As they went along,they saw a pair of old shoes lying in the path. They thought it belonged to apoor man who worked in a field nearby. The student turned to the professor,saying, "Let us play the man a trick: we will take away his shoes, andconcealourselves behind those trees, and wait to see what will happen when he cannotfind them. That must be very interesting."
"My young friend," answered the professor, "we shouldnever play jokes on others because of their being poor. Put a coin into eachshoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how the discovery changes him."
The student did so, and they both hid themselves behind the bushesclose by. The poor man soon finished his work, and came back. While putting onhis coat, he put his foot into one of his shoes. Feeling something hard, hebent down to see what it was and found the coin. Surprise was seen on his face.And he looked it again and again and put the money into his pocket. When he puton the other shoe, he was surprised again to find the other coin. He thenlooked up to the sky and said aloud some thanksgiving words to the person whogave him the coins.
The student stood there deeply moved, and his eyes were filled with tears."You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. I feel now thetruth of these words, which I never understand before, "A small act ofkindness brings great joy," he said.
