The Rich Man and the Hidden Treasure

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Long ago, there was a rich man who went to visit an old town. This town was said to be the exact place where a chest full of diamonds and gold was buried. He thought that if he's lucky enough, he'd be able to find the buried treasure and would become the richest man that has ever lived.

When he reached the town, he hired twenty men to help him find the treasure. He explained to them everything that they needed to know, and convinced each of them to work for him. They were reluctant at first, but when he offered them half of whatever they will find -- aside from their daily wages -- they all agreed. And so they started digging.

For months and months they dug, until half of the entire town was already filled with wide, deep holes, but they didn't find anything. The rich man even hired more workers -- twenty more men to be exact -- to speed up the search, but still they found nothing.

The workers were ready to give up, for the entire town was already ruined. Their houses and farms were also destroyed for this pursuit. But the rich man was persistent, he didn't care about the damage. All he wanted was to find the treasure, and after that, he'll be on his way. 

After a year of their fruitless search, the workers and all of the townsmen were already angry. The town was nothing but a land with many holes, no trees were in sight, and the people barely had a place to sleep. They were ready to send the man away and start their lives from scratch.

But the rich man was clever, or shall we say, deceitful. He had spent so much time and money for this search, and he couldn't let these people stop him now. So, he created a story to convince them to keep on digging.

He told them that he had a dream. In his dream, according to him, an old man was guarding the treasure. He also said that the old man was smiling at him. He told the townsmen that the dream only meant that they're close to finding the treasure. And so the search continued.

The rich man felt proud of himself. Of course there was no dream. But he was more than willing to feed everyone with lies if that's what it takes for them to keep working.

Another year had passed and nothing was found. The townsmen couldn't stand it anymore. They didn't want anything to do with the treasure, most especially the rich man, and just wanted to have their old town back. Back then, they had no money, but they were happy and contented. Their town was beautiful and all they did was destroy it. They decided to ask the rich man to pay for all the damage, so they can start over with their lives, and for him to leave the town altogether.

Little did they know that all the man's money were already spent on their wages and other expenses for the search. And his only chance to gain back his losses was to find the treasure. So when they came to him and asked for the payment, he had to lie to them once more.

He told them that he had another dream. In his dream, he said, the guardian of the treasure assured him that once the digging had stopped, the land with heal itself, and the houses will be built overnight, and the trees will grow tall right away. He also told them that he was sorry  that they had to stop the search, for he could feel that they were so close to the treasure, but if that's what they wanted, he was in no position to decide otherwise.

The townsmen left, convinced that no payment was indeed needed, and that everything will go back to how they were before the rich man arrived. By then, the man knew that he had to escape.

That night, it rained so hard. It was dangerous to go outside because of the holes and the slippery mud, but this was his only opportunity to leave unnoticed. When he was sure that no one was outside, he ran as fast as he can, through the heavy rain and through the darkness. He didn't notice the edge of a wide hole until he slipped and fell into the pit. He screamed for help but his voice was concealed  by the rain and the occasional thunder.

Little by little, the loose soil started to scatter and filled the holes, and when morning came, the holes were all covered and the town was as plain as before. The townsmen went to the man's tent to tell him that his dream was indeed accurate, but he was nowhere to be found. They started looking for him, and after a week of searching, they thought that he must have gone home. They soon started building their homes and eventually, they had to take down the man's tent. And good heavens! Under the rich man's tent, just beneath the spot where he used to sleep every night, the townsmen found a half-buried chest filled with diamonds and gold!

They divided the treasure equally among themselves and worked together to restore their town. Since then, their town became more prosperous and the people became happier and more united. They never found out what happened to the rich man, but surely, they wouldn't have cared less.