The story of a friendship!

Once upon a time, there was a good market in Silbaripuram. To reach this market easily, one had to take a single-track path next to the forest. The straight road would require a very long journey. Therefore, people chose this path.

One day, a merchant was traveling along it. He had several bundles with him. In addition, he had a pouch of fruits tied at his waist. It contained 100 gold coins.

As he walked, he didn't notice that this pouch of gold had fallen into the grass by the roadside. He unknowingly walked on.

Some time later, two friends were walking and talking behind him. Then, the first friend saw the pouch. Suddenly, he bent down and picked it up. Then he excitedly said, "Today is my lucky day. I will live comfortably in a foreign land with this."

Hearing this, the second friend said, "You shouldn't say that. We should say it is both our luck."

Immediately, understanding its meaning, the first friend said, "I was the one who bent down and picked it up. It appeared in front of me. I alone will be its owner; I will not give you even a single gold coin from it."

Then, the second friend said, "Alright, you can take it. But, remember that from this moment on, you are no longer my friend."

Hearing that, the first friend scoffed. The first friend said again, "If you want, come with me. You can stay with me if you wish."

The second friend did not reply to that. They walked on for a long time without saying anything. Then, from among a group of trees, some heads emerged.

They were the robbers of that land. They habitually had a method of skillfully throwing knives at people with money bags, causing them to fall and killing them, and then stealing all their jewelry and money bags.

Their method was to kill people after robbing them. This was because if the palace found out, the soldiers would surround and kill these robbers. Fearing this punishment, the robbers continued to do this.

Suddenly, the first friend saw this with a jolt. Then he understood—a knife could pierce my body at any moment!

Immediately, his intelligence awakened. He quickly extended the money pouch from his waist to the second friend and said, "Friend, you are my closest companion. I was wrong. Take this money. You can give me half of it later."

However, due to the sudden change of heart, the second friend became suspicious. He refused, "No, you take all of it."

At that moment, with a powerful knife throw from the robbers, the first friend fell, writhing in pain! The second friend quickly turned and ran home.

Normally, this information should be reported to the palace. Nevertheless, the second friend murmured, "He is not my friend. Therefore, I don't need to tell anyone about this."

Moral: Friendship should be maintained equally in times of distress and in times of gain.