There was a very clever and cunning landlord who owned lots of land throughout a whole village.
Whenever someone was in need of money, they came to him for help. He would gladly lend them a small amount, but he always made sure the agreement favored him.
The villagers had little choice.
One poor farmer once borrowed money to buy seeds for his fields.
“Don’t worry,” the landlord told him. “You can repay me after the harvest.”
The farmer thanked him and returned home.
But when harvest time came, the landlord arrived with a long list.
“You borrowed one hundred coins,” he said. “With interest and fees, you now owe me three hundred.”
The farmer was shocked.
“But you never mentioned any fees!”
The landlord smiled.
“You should have asked.”
The farmer had no money to pay, so the landlord took part of his land instead.
Year after year, the same thing happened.
The landlord became richer, while the villagers became poorer.
One day, a poor old man came to borrow money.
The landlord smiled.
“How much do you need?”
“Just fifty coins.”
“And what will you give me as security?”
The old man thought for a moment.
“My promise.”
The landlord laughed.
“A promise isn’t worth anything.”
The old man smiled.
“Neither is your money if nobody trusts you.”
The landlord became silent.
The old man continued, “You have taken land, houses, animals, and crops from people because they were desperate. One day, you may discover that being rich means nothing when everyone around you hates you.”
The landlord laughed again.
But that evening, something happened.
A group of villagers came together and decided they would no longer borrow from him.
Instead, they would help one another.
The landlord waited for customers the next morning.
Nobody came.
For the first time in many years, the clever landlord realized that his greatest weakness had never been money.
It was his greed.
He had spent years collecting everything except the one thing money could not buy:
Trust.
