Stories & Tales
The First Beggar

Once upon a time, a woman got married to a wealthy but very mean businessman who owned a big fabric and clothes store.
One day, the husband bought a chicken and asked his wife to cook it for dinner.

 

While they were having dinner, someone knocked at the door. It was a poor hungry man asking for some food. The husband was rude to him and kicked him out.

 

The beggar said: “God forgives you, master. If I wasn’t hungry and in real need, I wouldn’t be here.”

 

The husband shut the door before the beggar even finished talking, and he continued his dinner.

 

The wife said: “Why did you shut the door in his face?”

 

The husband replied with anger: “What did you expect of me?”

 

“You could have given him a piece of chicken,” said the wife.

 

“What? A whole piece of chicken? Are you crazy?”

 

“Then you could at least have been polite and nice to him,” replied the wife.

 

A few days later, the businessman went to his store and found that a fire had burned all the fabric and clothes he had. He came back home and told his wife: “A fire the whole store. I have nothing now.”

 

The wife told him: “ Don’t give up my husband. Be patient, and God will compensate you.”

 

However, the husband replied: “Listen, you’d better go to your parents’ house now, I can’t afford to support you anymore.”

 

And he divorced her, but God compensate her and she got married to a generous man who always helped the poor.

 

One day, while the wife was having dinner with her new husband, someone knocked at the door. The wife opened the door and came back to her husband saying: “It’s a beggar seeking some food.”

 

The husband replied: “Give him one of these two chickens.” “One chicken will be enough for me and you,” he added.

 

The wife said: “How generous you are, my husband.” And she gave the chicken to the beggar and came back to her husband crying.

 

“Why are you crying, dear wife?” the husband asked.

 

The wife answered: “I am so sad. The beggar who knocked at our door was my first husband.” And she told her new husband the story of her first husband who was mean and kicked the beggar out of his house after humiliating him.

 

The generous husband told her: “Dear wife, if the one who was on the door was your first husband, then I am the first beggar!”