The Wise Bear

In a village there lived two friends. One of them was a Carpenter and the other was a Tailor. They had a very peculiar habit of keeping the work pending for the next day. But they were not lazy. They simply thought that everything would be better if they left it for tomorrow.

One day the Tailor said. "Let us go for a holiday." So the two friends closed their shops and went out. They had not gone very far when they met an old lady. The lady kept bees. She called the Tailor, "Good day to my son! Would you make me a new dress if I give you ten pots of honey?" The tailor said, "I will start the work the moment I return. If you don't mind, please give me some honey in advance." The old woman gave the Tailor the honey. They went away.

When they passed through the small village, the people looked very worried and frightened. The villager told them, "Many of our men were killed by the bear living in the nearby forest." The carpenter said, "Oh! no, he won't worry us." "Then you must be a great hunter", said an old man, "If you can bring back the skin of the bear, I will reward you with ten gold pieces." At this the Carpenter said, "You will get the bear by tomorrow. Kindly pay us the ten pieces of gold right away." The old man agreed and gave the carpenter the gold coins.

The two friends went into the forest. As soon as they entered the forest, they heard terrible roar behind the trees. The big bear appeared in front of them. The tailor climbed up a tree nearby but the Bear caught the Carpenter on the ground. The Bear picked up the basket of honey pots and went off. Afterward the Tailor asked, "Did the bear say anything to you?" The Carpenter replied, "Yes he did. He said, “First catch the bear then sell the skin" The Tailor replied, "I should also make the dress first, before accepting the honey in payment for it." The two friends realized that the bear made them wiser.

Moral- Never put off till tomorrow what may be done today.