many years ago, there lived a very rich man who wanted to do something for the people of his town. but first he wanted to find out whether they deserved1 his *. so he placed a very large stone in the center of the main road into town. then he hid behind a tree and waited. soon an old man came along with his cow.
"who put this stone in the center of the road?" said the old man, but he did not try to remove2 the stone. instead, with some difficulty3 he passed around the stone and continued on his way. another man came along and did the same thing; then another came, and another. all of them complained about the stone in the center of the road, but not one of them tried to remove it.
late in the afternoon, a young man came along. he saw the stone and said, "the night will be very dark. some neighbor will come along later in the dark and will fall against the stone. "
the young man then began to move the stone. he pushed and pulled with all his strength4 to move it to one side. but imagine his surprise when under the stone he found a bag full of money and this message: "this money is for the thoughtful5 person who removes6 this stone from the road. that person deserves7 *."
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