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The Country of "The Opposite"

A tale about a magical country where everyone wants to give.

Once upon a time, in the country of "The Opposite," there lived a man who had a well. The man's greatest desire was to give a drink from his well to anyone who passed by. One morning, the owner of the well saw a traveler, and he said: "I see that you are very tired and hot. You are welcome to come and drink from my well."

The traveler answered: "I am very thirsty indeed, but I have no time now. I have made all these wooden spoons and I have to find someone to give them to. Please help me find someone who needs my wooden spoons, and then I will drink some water from your well.

When the owner of the well heard those words, he ran over to a nearby restaurant as he was sure that they could use a lot of wooden spoons.

At that time, the restaurant owner was standing in his kitchen cooking some fine, excellent food. He wanted the food to be ready before any guests arrived.

"I'll take the wooden spoons," said the cook to the owner of the well. "But first I have to find lots of people to feed because I have prepared a lot of this delicious food."

The owner of the well immediately ran over to a construction site. There he saw a lot of hard-working people with an enormous appetite.

"You are working so hard!" he told all the workers. "Surely, you must be very hungry! There is a great restaurant nearby where you can eat; the cook there has prepared plenty of delicious food."

"Yes, we are somewhat hungry, but we still have enough strength to work. Would you like us to dig an extra water well for you?" asked the workers.

The owner of the well agreed to let the construction workers build an extra well for him because he thought that it would be worthwhile to have even more drinking water. This way he would be sure to have enough for even more travelers.

The cook agreed to take the travelers wooden spoons and the construction men agreed to eat at the cook's restaurant. When the traveler heard about all of this, he agreed to drink some water from the man's well. And so everybody lived calmly and peacefully in the country of "The Opposite."

Until one day a wise man came to the country. The only thing he knew how to do was to sit and think.

The owner of the well wanted to give him some water, the cook wanted to give him some food, the construction workers wanted to build him a house, and many travelers wanted to give him many different things such as wooden spoons and other objects, but he refused to take anything because he had nothing to give in return.

"I will not take anything from those good people, until I find a way to make their lives easier," said the wise man. He sat, and thought and thought....and finally he found the answer. He decided to invent money. Instead of taking from one another, everyone will get paid in gold coins!

So, the owner of the well will pay those who drink from his well, and in order to earn this money he will have to ask the construction workers to build something for him. The workers will receive money when they eat at the restaurant, and the cook will take something from the travelers, and they will pay him for that.

It is possible to change the order of course, because the main thing is that everyone gains when he receives, because otherwise, they wouldn't be able to give to others. And if somebody forges money in order to give without taking for himself, then he will be brought to court and he will be judged.

So, they set out to look for the judge and when they found him, they saw that he looked weak, and hungry, and that he was without any work. The poor judge hadn't eaten for such a long time since he had no work to do, and nobody to judge.

All of a sudden, the wise man came up with a brilliant idea. He understood the nature of the people who lived in the country of "The Opposite" very well. They only wanted to give, and in order to give more, they were even willing to commit a crime such as forging money.

The residents of the country of "The Opposite" were inspired by the wise man's words. So, from then on, no one would look after themselves only, instead everybody would be able to give much more for the sake of others.

That is how the wise man established the first bank in the country of "The Opposite."

The country of "The Opposite" became a country just like all other countries in the world, now they have banks and institutions, along with factories, schools, hospitals, stores, managers, clerks, engineers, and teachers.

There is only one difference between the country of "The Opposite" and all the other countries: In the country of "The Opposite" all the people try to take much less for themselves, and give a lot more to others. This is because in the country of "The Opposite" everyone loves everybody, and therefore everyone is happy.

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