I remember that old lost parable of the greedy brother:
A wealthy landowner employed two very different brothers. One was very alert, skilled, always looking to do and earn more, covering as much work as possible. Shopping, staff, house repairs. So the profit from him was quite generous.
The other brother was of a serene nature, quiet, gentle and satisfied with a simple job, he was the one who tasted the food that would go to the Lord's table. He did not have a very high profit, however, he had time for his family, he led a relaxed life.
The sad thing about the situation was that the ambition of the skillful brother had already degenerated into greed, the greed of wanting everything, that despite living better and earning more, he envied his brother, his work, his peace. And at a point he imagined himself tasting the Lord's food, not like his brother who only tasted one bite of each plate, he dreamed of stuffing himself with everything that was on the table.
Fate, unfortunately, did not take long to give him the opportunity to fulfill his dream. His brother fell a little ill and without thinking he usurped his job by feigning false concern.
His hands were shaking and he was almost drooling when he got to the kitchen. He reached into each plate carelessly and ate desperately without compunction about everything he saw. He mocked inwardly how foolish his brother was and celebrated his cunning.
The hit against the floor when he fell took him out of deception. The food was poisoned, so the brother was sick, greed had clouded his judgment. Had he been restrained, he would be mildly ill, but he had almost dispatched all of the family's food by himself.
No one expected that the Lord was being poisoned, so they did not initially suspect the calm brother's illness, but now, with the death of the other brother, it was already evident that something was very wrong.
As I said at the beginning, a little ambition is good, too much ambition is a path to perdition.
Recuerdo esa vieja parábola perdida del hermano codicioso:
Un rico hacendado tenía empleados a dos hermanos muy diferentes. Uno era muy despierto, hábil, siempre buscando como hacer y ganar más, abarcaba la mayor cantidad de trabajo posible. Las compras, el personal, las reparaciones de la casa. Por lo que su ganancia era bastante generosa.
El otro hermano era de naturaleza serena, callado, gentil y se conformaba con un trabajo simple, era el quién probaba la comida que iría al la mesa del señor. No tenía una ganancia muy alta, sin embargo, disponía de tiempo para su familia, llevaba una vida relajada.
Lo triste de la situación, era que la ambición del hermano hábil ya había degenerado en codicia, avaricia de quererlo todo, que a pesar de vivir mejor y ganar más envidiaba a su hermano, su trabajo, su paz. Y llegado a un punto se imaginaba probando el mismo la comida del señor, no como su hermano que solo probaba un bocado de cada plato, él soñaba atiborrarse de todo cuanto estuviese en la mesa.
El destino, por desgracia no tardo en darle ocasión de cumplir su sueño. Su hermano cayó un poco enfermo y sin pensarlo usurpo su trabajo fingiendo una falsa preocupación.
Sus manos temblaban y casi babeaba cuando llego a la cocina. Metió la mano en cada plato sin ningún cuidado y comió desesperado sin reparo de todo cuanto vio. Se burlaba para sus adentros de lo tonto que era el hermano y celebraba su astucia.
El golpe contra el piso al caer lo saco del engaño. La comida estaba envenenada, por eso, enfermo el hermano, la codicia había nublado su juicio. De haber sido comedido, enfermaría levemente, pero casi había despachado toda la comida de la familia él sólo.
Nadie esperaba que el Señor estuviera siendo envenenado, por eso no sospecharon en un inicio de la enfermedad del hermano calmado, pero ahora, con la muerte del otro hermano, ya era evidente que algo estaba muy mal.
Tal como dije al inicio, un poco de ambición es bueno, demasiada ambición es un camino a la perdición.