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Aesop's Fable 42. The Farmer, His Sons, and the Field

Once there was a farmer who had four sons. The farmer was a hard-working man, but his sons were very lazy. As the farmer grew old, he realized that he had to teach his sons the value of hard work before he died. So, he took all his money and bought some land. The land was covered with weeds and full of stones, but the man knew it would be fertile ground for farming. His sons, however, were angry because they thought the land was worthless. They complained bitterly, but their father promised them that he had a good reason for buying the land.

Then, when he grew sick and knew he was dying, he summoned his sons and revealed the secret. "Now, before it is too late, I will tell you why I bought that land. The goddess Fortuna appeared to me and told me that in that land there is a treasure chest full of gold, but it is buried deep within the ground. Just find the buried treasure, and you will be wealthy for the rest of your lives." With those words, the old man died.

The sons were eager to uncover the treasure, so they started to dig. They pulled up the weeds and carted away the stones, turning over the soil to look for the treasure. They worked the ground for many days until, at last, they understood their father's words: the treasure was the land itself, made rich by their own hard work. They planted crops and the harvest was plentiful, and so it was every year, just as their father had promised.

The moral of the story is that hard work pays off, although it is not always in the way that you expect!