Short Story: The Village Visitor

A man after many years staying abroad decides to visit his ancestral home and establish a project to help the community.

This man has acquired great wealth and his intention to establish a project that will benefit his community and to use someone in the community to run the project was known to all.

On his arrival, there were guests who came to grace his honor with gifts in a ceremony full of fanfare to welcome him to the village. The man was greatly pleased with the community for honoring his presence and this spur in to do more for the community. However, he had one great concern, he wants one who has the best interest of the community at heart and he had no way of judging the character of the people around since they were all being friendly, cordial and in their best behavior to gain his favor.

He has seven days to stay before he returns to the city and he has to look for someone he can entrust the project with. Now he was swarmed with visitors each day from family, relatives and well wishes. They all came with gifts of all size and he was greatly impressed. This prompt a decision on how to choose the person to run his project. He will bless the person who brought the best gift with the project for the person must have great love for him and the people of the village to sacrifice such great gift.

On the fifth day, he was told that a man was at the gate to see him, and he noticed that the man was from a family his father had told him about. His father used to praise the family for the uprightness and fairness. Now he believed he had found the one to take over the project.

He told them to welcome the man in and with great expectation sat down waiting for the man. The man came in with so much joy which can be seen from his eyes, as he rained praise on the visitor who had come to bless the community and raise the standard of living in the people. The visitor was greatly impressed as he saw true happiness in the man, as he was happy that his community will be blessed.

Now he asked the man, " what have you brought for me as a gift" and the man reply that he brought nothing. This infuriated the visitor as it was a sign of disrespect and told the man to leave immediately.

The visitor decides the next day to go outside and take a tour of the community before leaving. He noticed abject poverty in the land and was greatly depressed at what he saw. He remembered the gift of food he had in his house and made a mental note to share them with the people before he leaves for the city.

On his way back, he saw the man he drove away for coming to visit him with no gift sharing fish amongst the people and he summoned one of the villages to inquire why the man was doing and was told that he always give to the poor and needy from the proceeds of his fishing business each business day.

The visitor summoned the man and asked him why he didn't bring him a gift but choose to give to the poor. He replied that he had selected the biggest fish for the visitor and on his way saw a widow with five children with nothing to eat and gave them the fish knowing that the visitor has some much food given as gift in his reserve that his fish will make no difference to him but will make much difference in the life of the widow even for a day.

The visitor was moved for the man concern for people and there he knew that he had found the right man for the project he had in mind for the people, for all his other visitors ignored the plight of the people to give him who has more than enough gift of food and but this man show true concern for humanity with his action.

It is important to seek the heart of a man in offering gift than to be carried away by the size of the gift.