nce upon a time there was an old and very sick farmer, who fearing he
was near death called for the company of his sons. His sons honored
their father's request and immediately rushed to his bedside. The farmer
pleased with his son's speediness called his sons close to tell them of
his secret.
"My sons," said the old man. "Today I shall tell you of the secret
which lies deep in my vineyard. For years, beneath the hot sun, I
have tilled that soil, but buried deep beneath the earth of my vineyard
is a great treasure. Soon I will be gone and you shall inherit whatever
lies therein.
That very night the farmer passed peacefully in his sleep, and
his sons immediately took to the vineyard with shovel and fork turning
over every inch of their father's vineyard. When they came up empty
handed the first time they thought that they had not gone deep enough.
So they returned to the vineyard again digging deeper than they had the
first time. This went on several times, each time the sons came up
empty handed, and each time they repeated the same pattern only digging
deeper.
Finally the sons did give up their search, crediting their labors to the
ravings of an old man. However, that year the vineyard produced a crop
like none it had before. The sons each received a share of the profits
and from that day on they truly believed that the ground beneath the
vineyard had a buried treasure.
