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THE WAY OF LIFE
mitting thefts. The father did not know that he was encou
raging the sin of stealing. * A certain daughter-in-law used to go to her neighbours and
she also used to calumniate her mother-in-law before her neighbours. The women of the neighbourhood use to listen to her with relish. They also encouraged the young woman to oppose and condemn her mother-in-law. One day, she quarrelled with her mother-in-law using very strong language. Meanwhile, her husband came home. He reprimanded her; beat her and sent her out of the house. The women of the neighbourhood who were watching this did not even realise that by encouraging a vice they had ruined the
life of a young lady. * In a certain family, there arose some misunderstanding bet
ween the wife and the husband. They also quarrelled with each other frequently. They had only one son aged about eight years. The mother used to encourage the boy to oppose his father. The boy on account of his mother's encouragement did not care to obey his father in anything. As he grew up, he became very haughty towards his father. His mother continued to encourage him to behave thus. The result was that the gentleman went away from the house. There was no one to support the family. The boy became a vagabond. Whatever money that they had was exhausted in two years. The mother and the son sold away the house and fell on the streets. They became beggars. Did she realise, at least, then that all those calamities had occurred on account of her
encouraging her son to oppose his father ? * A certain gentleman in Bombay unexpectedly got about five
lakh rupees. He began to indulge in various kinds of pleasures. The family comprised only the husband and the wife. They ate food in hotels and drank liquors. They visited clubs. The wife encouraged her husband's ignoble propensities. The gentleman fell into the snares of another beautiful woman. One year later, the wife came to know of it. There were quarrels between the wife and the husband. He beat his wife cruelly. Two years later, the gentleman was
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