Many years ago, there lived an old farmer. He had a big grove of coconut and mango trees. He worked hard with the interest on his grove. So the trees bore good fruits every year. But he was not happy. This was because he had two lazy sons who would not work at all. They enjoying happy with out work.

One day, the farmer thought one good idea, ``I shall teach them a lesson’’. So he took them t the grove. It was December month. The trees had only a few leaves. The ground was hard dry. He said, ``Do you see my grove?’’

``Yes father,’’ said the young men in once voice.

`It has always given us the best mangoes and coconuts!’’

Said the father, looked at his sons. They did not seem to realize how hard their father worked.

``My sons!’’ said the farmer, ``I have hidden a treasure in my grove. If you want to find, you must dig deep. You must turn over every bit of soil. You must be careful not to spoil the roots while digging. And yet you must dig not too far from the trunks. The treasure will be yours only if you dig properly.’’

The two lazy sons became exited. They did not like to work, but they wanted the treasure. They picked up their spades and began digging. They dug deep into the ground. They carefully turned over the soil. But they did not find any treasure. They found only stones, which they threw away. Their soft hands became hard and brown.

Some months passed. Soon it was summer. The mango trees were full of garden fruits. They looked at the ripe mangoes and the big green coconuts. ``Please, may we sell the fruits?’’ they asked their father. He agreed. So they sent to the fruit merchant.

The merchant was amazed to see the harvest. ``I have never seen a crop as fie as this,’’ he said. ``I shall give you lots of money for the whole crop.’’

The farmer and his sons were happy. The merchant said, ``you must have dug deep. You must have weeded and turned over the soil. That is why you got such a wonderful harvest.’’

After the merchant left, the farmer said, ``you can share this money. This is your treasue1 you earned it with your hard work!’’

Now the sons understood that hard wok will surely bring treasure.