The Greedy Brothers

The Greedy Brothers

In a small village in Mongolia, a poor laborer named Sam lived with his family. To support the family, Sam and his wife, Molly, had to work very hard. Sam would leave for work early in the morning and toil until nightfall. Molly spent her entire day doing household chorescollecting firewood for cooking and fetching water from the river.

Sam had five sons, but all of them were utterly lazy. Despite their familys poverty, they never helped their parents. Molly prayed day and night for a kind and dutiful son. She would bathe, perform rituals, and plead, Oh God Give me a son who will take care of us.

Several astrologers in the village told Molly that her sixth son would be extremely fortunate. Sam and Molly began to believe that their next child would surely bring prosperity. But fate had its own plansMolly gave birth not to a human child but to a python instead.

As soon as the python was born, it spoke, Mother, leave me in the jungle behind our house. If I stay here, people will kill me. Molly was already devastated that her child was a snake instead of a human. The thought of abandoning him in the jungle broke her heart even more. Crying over her fate, she reluctantly left her snakechild in the forest.

That night, Molly cried herself to sleep. In her dream, she saw her python son lying in her lap, saying, Mother, dont worry about me. I was cursed to be born as a snake.

A curse What kind of curse Who cursed you Molly asked in shock.

The python replied, In my past life, I was a very rich man. I had immense wealth but never shared even a penny with anyone. My own mother died of hunger, yet I didnt give her a single coin. My greed was so great that I was cursed to be reborn as a snake in a human household. But I want to atone for my past sins, so I will give you two fingers worth of gold every day.

Two fingers worth of gold Molly asked in disbelief.

Yes. Every day, I will come home to drink a bowl of milk. After drinking, you must cut off two fingers worth of my tail. That part will turn into gold instantly, explained the python.

No… no, my child, I cant do this. I cant hurt you, Molly said, frightened.

Dont worry, Mother. I wont feel any pain, the python reassured her.

Molly woke up suddenly. She looked around, feeling as if her python son was still in the house, but he was nowhere to be seen. However, she was convinced that her dream would come true.

The next day, she placed a bowl of milk in the room and waited. After a while, the python came and drank the milk. When he finished, he looked at his mother.

Molly understood that he was asking her to cut two fingers worth of his tail. She picked up a sharp knife but hesitated, afraid of hurting her son. Her hands trembled. But remembering the dream, she quickly cut a small portion of his tail. Instantly, the severed piece turned into pure gold. The python then slithered back into the jungle.

From that day onward, the python visited daily, drank his milk, and let Molly cut two fingers worth of his tail for gold. Sams familys financial situation improved significantly. They could now afford three meals a day and good clothes.

Meanwhile, Sam and Mollys five lazy sons were enjoying a life of luxury. They became extravagant and wasteful. Soon, they started feeling that the daily gold was not enough. They demanded more money from their mother.

The two fingers worth of gold we get daily is enough. You should learn to live within your means. Too much greed is never good, Molly tried to reason with them.

But the sons were stubborn. They argued, If you cut more than two fingers worth of tail, our python brother wont mind. He understands our poverty and struggles. Helping us will make him happy.

No… I wont do it. I will never cut more than two fingers worth, Molly refused firmly.

However, her sons kept pressuring her. Eventually, she gave in, thinking, Perhaps they are right. What harm can a slightly larger cut do After all, my python son is doing this to help his brothers.

The next day, when the python came, Molly placed the bowl of milk before him as usual. Once he finished drinking, he looked at her, expecting the usual small cut.

But this time, Molly hesitated for a moment, then quickly cut off four fingers worth of his tail.

But what was this Instead of turning into gold, blood started pouring from the pythons wound. Within moments, he writhed in pain and died.

Molly stood there in shock, unable to process what had happened.

Hearing her cries, the five lazy brothers rushed in. They saw their python brother lying dead and picked up the severed tail. But instead of gold, it was just a piece of flesh.

Realizing what they had done, the five brothers held their heads and wept. In their greed, they had lost everything. The gold was gone, and their python brother was dead.

Their greed had once again pushed Sam and Molly into poverty.