There was once a great and powerful king who ruled over many countries. He had three lead servants that took care of his huge palace. Once the king summoned the three servants and said to them,
“I am going to the far reaches of my kingdom to settle some business. You must have my house in order when I come back.”
He turned to the first servant and said, “Here; I give you 30,000 marks of silver and 10,000 marks of gold.”
To the second he said, “Behold; I give you 15,000 marks of silver and 5,000 marks of gold.”
To the third, he said, “Come; here is 7,500 marks of silver and 1,000 marks of gold.”
Then he turned to all of them and said, “I have given you money according to your jobs. Use this money to invest into my estates.”
"O king, live forever!” The third servant said, “when shall we expect you back from your journey?”
“I do not know,” the king answered, “It could be a week. It could be a decade. You must be ready for all time possibilities.”
So, the king left on his journey.
THE FIRST servant’s responsibility was the king’s animals. He went to the king’s herds and saw mangy, sickly-looking cattle. So he went and he sold all the thin and sickly cows and with that money and with some of the money given to him by the king, he bought fat, healthy cattle. He did the same with the sheep and goats.
He then went to the royal poultry and waterfowl and found them in bad shape. He killed the chickens and ducks that were worthless and assigned the rest with large amounts of grain and feed to put back in good health. He separated the meat fowl and the laying fowl. He gave more feed to the meat birds to fatten them up than he gave to the laying fowl.
He continued to the king’s stables. He made sure that the royal horses were fed and exercised. He cleaned their stalls and made sure there was enough room for the horses.
THE SECOND servant was in charge of the landscaping around the palace. He used the money given to him to buy efficient gardening gear.
He bought new plants to replace the old and dead ones. He assigned weeding and planting details.
He went to the royal golf course and found it in terrible shape. He had it mowed and the holes re-dug. He re-filled the pools with water and the pits with sand. He then rented it out for extra income (the renters agreed to rent the field until the king returned).
THE THIRD servant’s jurisdiction was cleaning the inside of the palace. He compared his sum to that of the others and said,
“Look, they have far more money than I do. I will go into the city and party a little, for, what use is it to me? Then, right before the king returns, I will produce it and set my jurisdiction in order.”
But, before the third servant was to return the king came back from his long journey.
The first servant came and said, “Come, O, king and behold my jurisdiction, for I am ready. Look I have made 5,000 marks of silver and the same amount of gold. I have this, plus, the original amount.”
The king answered and said, “Well done, you good and faithful servant. I shall make you governor of one of my districts.”
The second came and said, “Look, Your Majesty, your landscape has never been better. I have made 3,000 marks of silver from renting your golf course.”
“Well done, you good and faithful servant.”
The third was summoned from the city.
He came and said, “O king, live forever! Look, I have some of the money you gave me.”
“What is your profit?”
“Profit?”
“Yes, profit.”
“Well, I saw that I did not have enough money to improve the house much, so, I went into the city and spent some time there.”
“What! Guards! Take this man to the dungeon!”
“NO! What about my family?”
“You should have thought of that before you shirked the responsibility that I gave you. You shall stay in the dungeon for a fortnight, after that, you shall be shortened by the length of your head!”
As a thorn in the side, so is an unfaithful servant to them that trust in him.
