Wisdom from the mouth of a child

The market was teeming with shoppers and vendors. On the sidewalk sat a man in his forties, missing one leg. He extended his hands to passersby, pleading with them for a few coins to survive. As he sat there, a young woman with a child of about eleven years old passed by. She gave him some money and asked him to keep her child with him until she returned with her purchases. The man agreed and sat the child beside him. He continued to beg and plead with passersby, praying for them in a humiliating manner. If someone passed by without giving him anything, he would curse them. The child looked at him with crystal-clear eyes full of childlike innocence until the man noticed his gaze and asked, "What do you want? Why are you staring at me so much?" The boy replied spontaneously, "Why are you begging, uncle?" The man laughed and replied, "Can't you see my leg is amputated?" The child retorted, "Is that a reason not to work?" The man became angry, spat to the side, and added, "Who would allow a man with an amputated leg who can barely walk to work for them? And even if they did, what would I do?" "A garbage collector!" When he finished speaking, he laughed loudly and bitterly. The little boy looked confused, then added, "But tell me, uncle, did you look for work? And how did you live before begging?" The young man sighed and said, "No, I didn't look. My parents used to support me, but since they died, my brothers have abandoned me because of my weakness. They see me as a disgrace. My old friends have also ignored me since my leg was amputated." The little boy spoke innocently, "Is that a good enough reason to beg? You don't have one leg, but you have the other. You have two hands, a mouth, a nose, two eyes, and two ears. Perhaps no one will let you work for them, but couldn't you use the money you beg for and start your own business? That way, you could earn it and get rid of the humiliation and degradation." The man gave a mocking laugh, but deep down, he was pained that such advice was coming from a small child. He said, "Those who work, my dear boy, don't earn in a day what I earn in an hour of rest and humiliation." The young man paused for a moment, thinking, then replied to the young man: “But they get their sustenance from God through honest, lawful work that they are content with. They are happy with little sustenance and do not humiliate themselves or pray against others. And you, if you work, you will get your sustenance, and if you beg, you will get the same sustenance, but not lawfully and with humiliation, and everyone pities you. Don’t you see their looks?”