Editor's note: For the fifth year, WBOI has partnered with students at Towles New Tech Middle School for the "Moral of the Story Project." In the classroom, students learn about the teachings of Hinduism and Buddhism, focusing on the Jataka tales, which are the tales about how Buddha became enlightened. Students will learn about these tales along with literary devices and narrative story telling. With the assistance of WBOI, a select group of students will then create podcasts of their stories.
Thank you Tia McFarthing and Fort Wayne Community Schools for including WBOI in this partnership.
The Lazy Farmer written and narrated by Willa Jacobs. This podcast was produced by Rob Martinez.
Once upon a time, there was a lazy farmer. He was very lazy, and he never wanted to do any work, ever! One day, the lazy farmer was sitting along the side of the wheat field, watching the other farmers work. He tipped back in his chair, propping his feet up on a fencepost and letting his straw hat fall over his eyes. He had a blade of grass between his teeth, chewing on it lightly. Now, there was also a kind farmer. She was very sweet, and she always tried to see thebest in people. She saw the lazy farmer along the side of the wheat field, and she decided she’d try to convince him to help them work in the fields. She strode up next to where his chair sat.
“Oh, you are quite lazy, aren’t you?” commented the kind farmer. The lazy farmer lifted up his hat. He glared at the kind farmer with a burning stare.
“I suppose,” the lazy farmer responded.
“Say,” continued the kind farmer, “don’t you want to come and work out here with the other farmers?” She looked at him with a cheery smile plastered on her face.
“Not really. Field work just isn’t really my thing,” explained the lazy farmer.
“I’d bet if you tried it, you like it. Besides, if you would help us, we would get a lot done, a lot quicker!” The lazy farmer spat out the blade of grass and began to pick his teeth.
“I just don’t really feel like doing it. You know what I’m saying?” he inquired. The kind farmer frowned.
“But tending to the wheat is such a great job! Once you do it for long enough, you start to get into a flow. It’s like you don’t even have to think about it. It just happens! Right beneath your very fingers!” she explained excitedly. The lazy farmer raised an eyebrow.
“It’s like the wheat sings in a thousand voices as you tend to it. It’s such a beautiful thing. Now, you’ve just got to come and help us! Please?” the kind farmer prompted.
The lazy farmer stared at her blankly, unimpressed. “Eh, no thanks. I’ll just hang out over here.”
He gazed out at the golden wheat, shining like a glowing flame. The sudden wind rustled the grasses. A dark cloud drifted above the fields. The lazy farmer began to drift off, and very soon, he was snoring loudly. All of a sudden, the lazy farmer was in his house. Naturally, he was confused. Oh, he thought, I must be dreaming. Suddenly, the floor began to shake quite violently. What is happening? Am I about to die?
And then… foom! Smoke was in the air. The deafening silence was ominous. The lazy farmer coughed, waving it away. Then he gasped. Before him, stood a wheat seed. But this wheat seed, it was floating in midair. Suddenly, the wheat seed… opened its eyes! The lazy farmer screamed.
The wheat seed began to float higher.
“I am the mystical wheat seed! And I have heard that you haven’t been doing your job in the field. Is that so?” the seed boomed.
“Um, uh, yes, I did do that,” he answered nervously. The wheat seed began to shake its head in disgrace.
“If you don’t do your part, you’re only making it harder for the others to do their jobs! And what happens if they’re feeling under the weather? Who will do the work?”
The lazy farmer gaped in shock. “I’ve never really thought about it like that before,” he admitted.
“If you do your job, you’ll have good dedication, demeanor, and desires,” the seed continued. “All I ask you is this; help the other farmers. If you do your job right, you will be rewarded,” the seed finished.
“Wow,” said the lazy farmer, “thank you. I promise that as soon as I wake up, I’ll plant a million seeds, and farm a million stalks of wheat, and till a million patches of soil!” The wheat seed nodded.
“You’d better go. Your farmer friends need you,” it uttered, its smile lighting up the room. And the lazy farmer smiled back. Right then, the lazy farmer woke up. The lazy farmer jumped up from his chair. He knew exactly what he had to do. He ran to the edge of the field. But something made him stop. He groaned. The other farmers were there. “You shall not pass!” shouted one of them, pointing his spade at the lazy farmer.
“You don’t understand, I want to work now! Please, let me help!” he pleaded, his knees in the mud.
“You made your choice. Why should we let you in? Go back and sleep or something,” they sneered. They all chuckled. The lazy farmer hung his head.
“Let him in,” said a voice from the back of the crowd. The lazy farmer looked up. The crowd parted to see who it was. It was the kind farmer!
“Clearly he wants to help us now. Why are you all being cruel and shunning him? More farmers means less work!” she told them. The other farmers looked ashamed.
“You’re right. We’re sorry. To both of you,” they said.
The kind farmer helped the lazy farmer out of the mud.
“I promise I’ll work extra hard, and I won’t slack off!” he exclaimed. But before the kind farmer could respond, he had already grabbed a spade and begun tilling the soil in the field. The kind farmer smiled.
“I suppose you will,” she muttered. And the lazy farmer was never lazy again, for he now knew the importance of doing your job.