The Book of Riches
“This is how you spent my hard earned money?”, said Amonsak as he threw the book he was holding in the floor, “Did you know that I would have to work for a week just to replace the money you spent on this book.”
“But it’s a very valuable book, father,” said Somchai, “with it, we can do a lot of things.”
“You and your dreams. I knew I shouldn’t have given you a chance to go to school. You should have been spending your time instead working on our farm.”
“But I don’t want to be a farmer, father. I want to be an engineer or even a doctor.”
“Nonsense, as it is, I’m already finding it hard to pay for your schooling. This would be your last year in school. You can already read and write anyway.”
“You can’t make your son stop school, dear,” said Chariya, “our son have dreams too, and not just to be a farmer like you all his life.”
“But where would I get the money for his schooling? We can’t even pay our debts now because of the drought. Besides, what’s wrong with being a farmer?”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a farmer, dear. But you must realize, we’re always at the mercy of nature, and it’s been getting worse. There’s hardly any rain and water now from the river, and the sun is getting hotter and hotter. Our crops are nearly dead.”
“We just need to pray and work harder. Maybe a miracle would happen. We’ve survived this far, haven’t we?”
“But we also need other options besides farming,” said Chariya, “we have very little crops to sell this season.”
“Haven’t I been trying to find gold in the mountains and selling firewood on the side? Do you want more from me? What I suggest instead is that we further lessen our expenses by eating less and stop the schooling of Somchai who’s been buying these useless and expensive books.”
“But the book is what we need, father.”
“This book is for smart people with money only, and we are neither smart or rich people. Now, start plowing the fields and don’t go home until it’s done.”
Many months have passed and the drought has completely devastated the village of Somchai and his family. He has also for a long time, already stopped his schooling as what his father decided. The water in the river has almost dried up as well.
Many people in the village think that soon, they would need to relocate to other villages and even in the city just so they can earn a living. But of course, this means leaving the farms that they own and can’t sell at the moment.
“Perhaps we can sell that book of yours,” suggested Amonsak, “maybe we can use the money to feed ourselves for a couple of days.”
“No,” protested Somchai, “this book is more important than a few days worth of food.”
“We’re selling the book, and that’s it. Now, give me that darned book.”
Somchai suddenly ran outside the house and into the woods where he disappeared. Amonsak chased and looked for him but was unable to find him. After hours of searching, he returned home to tell Chariya that he was unable to find their son.
The husband and wife had a heated argument and soon, Somchai admitted that he was at fault why his son ran away. Although worried for his son, Somchai can’t devote much time looking for him as he was now forced to collect firewood in the mountains just to feed him and his wife.
After several weeks, he found a small remote farm. It wasn’t the smallness of the farm which surprised him, but it was the bountiful crops growing in it because it was well-watered. He looked for the persons who owns the farm but couldn’t find them.
Although feeling guilty, he decided to steal some of the crops and quickly headed back home to tell his wife about the wondrous farm. The two decided that since there was plentiful water in the wondrous farm, they can built a farm nearby it so they can share with the plentiful water in supply.
As they neared the wondrous farm, tears fell in Chariya’s eyes when she saw Somchai who was busily working on some kind of wooden contraption. His parents immediately hugged him when they arrived.
“Do not run away again, son. Your father and me have been worried about you. We thought something has happened to you already.”
“Is this you farm, son?”, asked Amonsak, “Why, you’re a natural farmer and have found a plentiful source of water.”
“It was because of the book, father. It taught me how to find ground water and also how to build a well and irrigate my farm automatically using a wind turbine.”
“A wind turbine?”, asked Amonsak as he scratched his head.
Somchai explained to them what he learned from the book, which contained information on how to live off-grid. Soon, the entire family was applying all the knowledge they learned from the book back in their own farm.
News spread in the village that the family has found a way to survive the drought. The family became popular in their village and in other villages for their knowledge in how to live off-grid, especially in building machines that helped in farming, irrigation and electrification.
The village became prosperous and the book and other books related to it became a staple reading for everyone in the village. After a few more years, Somchai left their village to study engineering and when he finally graduated, returned to his village and made it more prosperous than ever.
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