Wisdom story: Lies, a destroyed reputation and fitting punishment

Once upon a time, an old man spread rumors that his neighbor was a thief. As a result, the young man was arrested by the authorities and locked up in jail. A couple of weeks later the young man was proven innocent. After being released, the man felt humiliated as he walked to his home. He sued the old man for wrongly accusing him and ruining his reputation. He lost the respect of everyone around him, even some of his family members. He also lost his job and no one wanted to hire him after that.

Once the case began in court, the old man told the Judge, “They were just comments, and they didn’t harm anyone.” The young man could hardly keep calm as his whole life changed for the worse since the old man spread those lies. The judge looked at the old man without any expression and before passing the sentence on the case, told the old man, “Write all the things you said about him without mentioning his name on a piece of paper. Cut them up and on the way home, throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to Hear the sentence”.

The next day, the judge told the old man, “Before receiving the sentence, you will have to go out and gather all the pieces of paper that you threw out yesterday.” The old man said, “I can’t do that! The wind must have spreads them and I don’t know where to find them”.

The judge then replied, “The same way, simple comments may destroy the honor and reputation of a man to such an extent that one is not able to fix it.” The old man realized his mistake and asked for forgiveness. The judge replied “You have to ask the young man for forgiveness. My judgment is that you shall repay for the damage caused to the young man until you get me the very last piece of paper you have threw out the day before.”