The Story of Abul Qasim

Many, many years ago there was a merchant. His name was Abul Qasim. He was the richest man in the country. He had large, strong boxes with gold and goods. He had many houses and gardens. He was very rich but he ate only bread and wore old clothes. His shoes were old. He bought them 30 years ago. When there was a hole in one of his shoes he took it to a shoemaker. The shoemaker put new leather over the old. And the shoes were the largest in the city. People laughed and said, “Look! Here comes Abul Qasim, half Abul Qasim and half shoes!”