100 Moral Stories 60
THE STRANGER IN THE GARDEN
Once upon a time there was a man who had a big garden. He had planted many fruit trees and
cared for them till they bear fruits. Now he wanted to pick up the fruits and sell them to make
money for his family.
One fine day while picking fruits with his son, the man saw a stranger
sitting on the branch of a tree and picking the fruits. This man become
angry and shouted, “Hey you! What are you doing on my tree? Aren’t you
ashamed of stealing fruits in the day time?” The stranger on the branch
just looked at the gardener but didn’t reply, and continued picking the
fruits. The gardener was very angry and shouted again, “For a whole year
I have taken care of these trees, you have no right to take the fruits without
my permission so come down at once!”
The stranger on the tree answered, “Why should I come down? This is the garden of God and I am
the servant of God, so I have the right to pick these fruits and you should not interfere between the
work of God and his servant.” The gardener was very surprised at this answer and thought of a
plan. He called his son and said, “go bring a rope and get this man down from the tree.” His son
brought the rope and the gardener ordered him to tie the stranger to the tree. The gardener then
took a stick and started to beat the stranger. The stranger began to scream. “Why are you beating
me? You have no right to do this.”
The gardener paid no attention and continued beating him. The stranger screamed, “Don’t you
fear God, you are beating an innocent man? The gardener answered, “Why should I fear? This
wood in my hand belongs to God and I am too the servant of God, so I have nothing to fear, and
you shouldn’t interfere with the work of God and his servant.” The stranger hesitated and then
spoke, “Wait don’t beat me, I am sorry for taking the fruits. This is your garden and I should seek
your permission before taking the fruits. So, please forgive and set me free.”
The gardener smiled and said, “Since you have now realized your mistake, I will forgive you but
remember that God has given all his servants brains so every person’s deeds are in his own hands.”
Then the gardener untied him and let him go free.
TO TELL THE TRUTH
“Who did this?” asked my teacher. Thirty children tried to think about
not only what they had done, but also what our teacher may have found
out. “Who did this?” asked my teacher once more. She wasn’t really
asking, she was demanding an answer. She seldom became angry, but
she was this time. She held up a piece of broken glass and asked, “Who
broke this window?”
“Oh, oh,” I thought. I was the one who broke the window. I had not done it intentionally. It was
caused by an errant throw of a baseball. I was working on my knuckleball. It needed more work.
Why did it have to be me? It wasn’t really my fault. If I admitted guilt, I would be in a lot of trouble.
How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn’t even get an allowance. “My father is
going to have a fit,” I thought. I didn’t want to raise my hand, but some force much stronger than I
was pulled it skyward. I told the truth. “I did it.” I said no more. It was hard enough saying what I
had.
