Once upon a time when Confucius was passing through a village and came upon an old man with his young son pulling water from the well, he was confused to see this because at that time, people harness horses or oxen to pull water from the well. So he went to the old man and asked, “Why are you unnecessarily tiring yourself old man, now that we have harness horses and oxen?” The old man hushed him and said, “Please speak softly! I don’t want my son to hear this!! I can answer you but please come back when my son goes for lunch.”
Though Confucius was perplexed, he kept quiet and waited until the old man came to him alone at lunch time then asked, “Why would you not let your son hear what I said?” And the old man replied, “I am 85 years old and yet I have the strength to work side by side with a 30 year young man. If today I engage horses to pull the water, then my son will not be able to have the same strength at 85 that I have now. Besides, hard work doesn’t kill. That’s why I asked you not to speak about it in front of my son. It’s a question of his health. We heard that in the towns, people now use horses to pull water from the well. There are machines also to do that. But if I use horses or machine now to pull the water, what will he do? What effect will it have on my son’s health? If he is saved from doing all the hard work now, how will he be able to maintain his health?”
So, what we do today will affect us tomorrow. What we do on one hand has an immediate effect on the other. For he who rests during the day, destroys his repose of the night. Rest has to be earned through labour or else, you shall have to pass a Restless Night.
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