Once upon a time in Europe, in a certain village and in a certain town, there lived the 2 main characters of our story. They were Mr.Fortune and Mr.Misfortune. Mr.Fortune had Mrs.Goodluck on his side and Mr.Misfortune had Mrs.Badluck on his side.
Why is Mr.Fortune fortunate?
One day as he was walking, he came across an apple tree and as he was hungry, he wanted to eat an apple. As if the apple tree understood what he wanted, a ripe apple fell in front of the man. He took the apple and ate it and went on his way. But, he made sure to thank the tree before leaving.
Why is Mr.Misfortune misfortunate? -
One day as he was walking, he came across an apple tree and as he was hungry, he wanted to eat an apple. As if the apple tree deliberately misunderstood what he wanted, a rotten apple fell on the man’s head. He took the apple nonetheless and ate it and went on his way. But, he made sure to scold the tree before leaving.
The meeting of the fortunate and the misfortunate -
It so happened that one day, Mr.Fortune and Mr.Misfortune were in the same town. What brought them together may be fortune or misfortune, but they now stood on the opposite sides of the river, waiting to walk across the same bridge. As day turned to night, both of them climbed the bridge and they faced each other in the middle of the bridge. They instantly recognised each other and Mr.Misfortune decided to take his frustration out on Mr.Fortune. He started to complain about his misfortune due to Mrs.Badluck as Mr.Fortune listened in silence.
Mr.Misfortune rambled on about his sad feelings and when Mr.Fortune had felt he had heard enough, he stopped him and said that blaming Mrs.Badluck for his misfortune was not the correct approach. Then Mr.Fortune said that he would give Mr.Misfortune 200 coppers if he would go and speak to Mrs.Goodluck, so that she would remove some of the good luck from himself and give it to him.
Instead of seeing the situation as it was meant to be, Mr.Misfortune saw this as a good earning opportunity. So, he said that he would speak to Mrs.Goodluck for 400 coppers. Mr.Fortune agreed and went on his way. Just as he was leaving, Mr.Misfortune thought to himself and his greed got the best of him. He thought to himself that he could have asked Mr.Fortune for money and so he ran behind him and called out to him.
He said that he would talk only if he was given 500 coppers, but this time, Mr.Fortune had heard enough and he said that the price was now fixed at 200 coppers, which was half the initial price of the agreement! Mr.Misfortune still did not learn his lesson and he kept bargaining. The price fell to 100 coppers and then to 50 dollars. But Mr.Misfortune still did not learn his lesson and the price continued to fall till it reached 10 coppers. This was when Mr.Misfortune learnt where to stop and finally, he went on his way.
Misfortune meets good luck -
Mr.Misfortune had reached the palace of Mrs.Goodluck and after entering it, he conveyed the message that Mr.Fortune had told him. At once, Mrs.Goodluck flew into a rage and said that all the good luck which Mr.Fortune had was due to his hard work. She went on to say that Mr.Fortune deserved all the good luck he had and that nothing was going to change about that.
Misfortune meets bad luck -
Mr.Misfortune had reached the hut of Mrs.Badluck and after entering it, he started blaming her for his misfortune. At once, Mrs.Badluck flew into a rage and said that all the bad luck which he had was due to his own laziness and greed. She went on to say that Mr.Misfortune deserved all the bad luck he had and that nothing was going to change about that. She then threatened to curse him if he did not leave from there.
It was then that Mr.Misfortune knew that he was the cause for all the misfortune that he was facing and from that day he started his journey to become Mr.Fortune.
Moral - Whether one faces fortune or misfortune, there is no one to blame other than themselves.