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There was once a rich and kindly old man who, reaching the end of his days, decided to leave his possessions to some honest and intelligent young man. Speaking of this decision, he told a good friend that he wanted to choose wisely.The friend advised him，“The next time you sell something, and are giving the customer their change, make sure you give them too much.The customer who returns the extra money to you, you will know that they are honest”.
The rich man thanked his friend for the advice, and thinking it a good idea, and easy to carry out, he decided to try it.
What he did not know was this. A neighbour who pretended to be his friend, but was really very envious of the rich old man hired the services of a wizard.He paid the wizard to cast a spell on the rich old man's coins.The spell would mean that anyone who saw coins touched by the old man, rather than seeing them as coins, would see them as that which the customer wanted most in the world.
With this plan, the envious neighbour believed that no customer would return the old man's change, and, having no one to leave his money to, the old man would leave it all to the neighbour's young nephew.
Indeed, everything went according to plan for the greedy neighbour, and not a single customer was able to return the enchanted coins. Some saw in these coins the biggest diamond or precious stone, others saw a work of art, some saw a relic, and some saw a miraculous healing potion.When the old man had almost given up trying to find an honest person, the greedy neighbour sent his nephew to the old man's business, taking great care to instruct the boy to return the old man's money.The nephew was determined to do so, but on receiving the enchanted coins he saw in them all the possessions and honours of his own uncle.Believing that what his uncle had told him was a trick, he left with his useless coins and his greed, to no end, since his uncle learned of this betrayal, he made his nephew banish forever.
The rich old man, sick and depressed, decided to call his servants before he died. He gave them some possessions so that they could live freely when he was no longer with them.Among these servants was a youth, who received some portion of this money by mistake.The youth, raised in the house of the wise and just old man, who he loved like a father, saw, in place of the money, a powerful medicine which would cure the old man, since this was truly what he most wanted in the world.On seeing this, the youth offered the money back to the old man, saying“Take this, Sir, it’s for you；it will make you feel better.”
And the return of that simple coin indeed acted like the most miraculous of cures. The old man leapt with joy at having finally found an honest person, and it filled him with joy to find that this honest person had always been in his very own house.
And so, the young servant went on to manage, with great justice, generosity and honesty, all the old man's possessions and business concerns. And the old man went on to accompany and advise him like a son for many more years.
从前有一位富有善良的老人，在即将离世的时候，他决定把他的财产留给某个诚实而又聪明的年轻人。谈到这个决定，他告诉一个好朋友他要明智地选择人选。这位朋友告诉他，“下次你卖东西给顾客找零钱的时候，要多找给他们一些。如果有顾客把多余的钱返还给你，你就能知道他们的诚实。”
富人谢过了朋友的建议，认为这是个好主意，很容易实施，决定试一试。
但他不知道的是，在他们交谈的时候有几个人就在场，其中有一个邻居，他装作是富人的朋友，但实际上他非常嫉妒这位有钱人。他雇佣了一个巫师。他付钱给巫师，叫巫师在这位有钱人的钱上施咒。咒语就是，凡是见到老人摸过的钱的人，看到的将不再是钱币，而是这个世界上他最想要的东西。
借着这个计划，这个满心嫉妒的邻居认为没有顾客会把多余的钱还给老人，而老人的钱也无人可给，最后老人会把钱都留给自己的小侄子。
事实上，一切都按照这个贪婪的邻居的计划进行着，没有一个顾客返还施了魔法的钱币。一些人从这些钱币里看到了最大的钻石或珍贵的宝石，一些人看到了艺术品，一些人看到了文物，一些人则看到了神奇的救命良药。就在老人几乎要放弃寻找诚实之人的时候，这个贪婪的邻居叫他的侄子来到老人的店铺，他很仔细地告诉男孩一定要把老人的钱还回去。他的侄子打定主意要这么做，可是当接到施了咒的钱币后，他看到的全都是他叔叔的财产和荣誉。他相信叔叔告诉他的全是骗人的，于是带着没用的钱币和他的贪婪离开了。然而这一切都是徒劳，因为当他叔叔发现他背叛了他之后，把他赶走了，永远都不允许再回来。
富有的老人又虚弱又绝望，他决定在临死之前召集所有的佣人。他发给他们一些钱财，这样在他死后，他们就能自由地生活了。在这群佣人中间有一个年轻人，他也分到了一些钱。这个年轻人是在这位明智正直的老人家里长大的，他爱老人就像爱自己的父亲，他看到的不是钱，而是能治好老人的奇药，因为这就是他在这个世界上最想要的东西。年轻人把钱还给了老人，说：“拿着，先生，这是给您的；它能让您感觉好一些。”
被还回来的简简单单的硬币确实就像最神奇的药一样发挥了奇效。老人高兴得跳了起来，因为他终于找到了一个诚实的人，他满心欢喜地发现，原来这个诚实的人一直就在他的家里。
就这样，这个年轻的佣人开始打理老人的所有财产和生意上的事，他正直、慷慨而诚实地做着这一切。而老人就在他左右，像父亲教导自己的儿子一样，又陪了他好多年。
Moral of the Story：
The best way to encourage honesty is to create an environment of honesty and generosity, since he who wants nothing for himself is farthest from falling into greed and envy.
故事寓意：
鼓励诚实的最好方法是创造一个诚实、慷慨的环境，因为一个无私的人是不会陷入贪婪和嫉妒的深渊的。
词海拾贝：
possessions[pəˈzeʃənz]n.[经]财产；所有物
carry out 执行，实行
envious[ˈenvɪəs]adj.羡慕的；嫉妒的
wizard[ˈwɪzəd]n.男巫；术士
enchanted[inˈtʃa：ntid]adj.被施魔法的
miraculous[mɪˈrækjʊləs]adj.不可思议的，奇迹的
to no end 无益处地；无止境地
betrayal[bɪˈtreɪəl]n.背叛；辜负
banish[ˈbænɪʃ]vt.放逐；驱逐
generosity[dʒenəˈrɒsətɪ]n.慷慨，大方
accompany[əˈkʌmpənɪ]vt.陪伴，伴随