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THE SECRET OF WORK
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and must be treated as such. So the poor Brahman said, 'Come in, sir; you are welcome.' He set before the guest his own portion of the food, which the guest quickly ate and said, 'Oh, sir, you have killed me; I have been starving for ten days, and this little bit has but increased my hunger.' Then the wife said to her husband, "Give him my share,' but th husband said, 'Not so.' The wife however insiste saying, 'Here is a poor man, and it is our duto householders to see that he is fed, and it is my og as a wife to give him my portion, seeing that vo have no more to offer him.' Then she gave her share to the guest, which he ate, and said he was still burning with hunger. So the son said, "Takem portion also; it is the duty of a son to help his father to fulfil his obligations. The guest ate that, but remained still unsatisfied ; so the son's wife gave him her portion also. That was sufficient, and the guest. departed, blessing them. That night those four people died of starvation. A few granules of that flour had fallen on the floor, and when I rolled my body on them half of it became golden, as you see Since then I have been travelling all over the world. hoping to find another sacrifice like that, but no where have I found one; nowhere else has the other half of my body been turned into gold. That is why I say this is no sacrifice.”
This idea of charity is going out of India; great. men are becoming fewer and fewer. When I was first learning English I read an English story book in
