Weekend Story-The Villagers And The Well

Once upon a time, in a small village, there was only one clean drinking water well that every family relied upon.

One day a stray dog was playing along the skirting when it fell into the well and died. By the time the villagers discovered what had happened, the water in the well had become filthy and undrinkable. As a result, the village’s only water source was cut off overnight.

So, the worried villagers turned to the wise old man in the village to seek his advice.

The wise man said, ” take out 100 buckets of water from the well. If you do that, the filthy water at the top will be drawn out, and the clean groundwater at the bottom will rise to the surface.”

The villagers did as the wise old man advised. But unfortunately, the stench in the water remained. So the villagers went back to the wise man again to check on what needed to be done.

The wise man said- “Perhaps, I have miscalculated. Take out another 100 buckets of water. I am certain the freshwater will wash through.

The villagers went back to the well and extracted another 100 buckets of water but to no avail. The water in the well kept stinking.

Concerned villagers returned to the wise old man and said, “Oh, wise one. We have done as you have advised. However, the water continues to be filthy. What should we do now?”

The wise old man was very suspicious. Instinctively, he asked the villagers-“I doubt that the well water will remain dirty after 200 buckets of water have been drained. Tell me, did you remove the dead dog from the well before drawing the water?”.”

The villagers responded, “no, sir, we did as you advised. You told us to extract 100 buckets of water; we just did that !!!”