He was a very good carpenter. He built many beautiful houses and buildings. He built the Mayor's house, the baker's shop, the doctor's clinic and some of the classrooms of the village's school center.
He loved his job so much. He built each house or building with a smile on his face. People say that they felt the warmth of smiles from the houses and buildings he built.
Everyday when the carpenter walks down the hill to work in the village, he walks past the houses and the buildings he made. It made him proud and happy at the same time when he sees his work.
"I wish I could build houses as beautiful as those I made for my family as well," he would tell himself as he walks past the pretty houses he built. But he is just a poor man and he does not have as much money to build a beautiful house for him and his old wife.
When the carpenter celebrated his fifty-fifth birthday, he went to his master and said:
"Sir, I am old already and I don't think I can still continue building houses and buildings. I wish to retire from working and spend my remaining days with my wife."
His master did not say anything but just sadly stared back to the old carpenter for a long time. He is his best employee and he is also a very good man.
"I understand what you mean," the Master said. "You are old and you like to spend your remaining days with your wife," he continued. "But before you retire, I'd like to ask you something".
"What is it, Sir?" asked the old carpenter.
"I'd like you to build a house," said the Master.
The carpenter looked at his master and felt somewhat irritated because of the additional work his master asked him to do. But he did not say anything and still followed what he was told to do.
For more than a week the old carpenter worked on the house his master asked him to build. However, unlike the previous houses he made, the carpenter hardly ever smiled as he laid down each brick for the walls or hammered each nail for the roof and the windows.
When his last task was finally finished, he went back to his master.
"Sir, the house you asked me to build is finished"
His master looked at him and said:
"That is very great. You can now take your wife and live in that new house you made. That is my gift to you for being very hardworking and being a very good employee and a friend."
The old carpenter looked at the house he made and cried. It was not as beautifully made as the others he made. His heart was not on his job. He did not smile as he laid down each brick or hammered each nail. He cannot feel the warmth of a smile from the new house he had.
