A man was selling oranges in the middle of a
road. He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers.
He put some signs along the road and spent the whole
day praising the flavor of his wares.
Everyone bought from him and the man thrived.
With the money he placed more signs on the road and
began to sell more fruit. Business was growing fast
when one day his son - who was educated and had
studied in a big city - asked him:
- Father, don't you know that the world is going
through very hard times? The economy of the country is
in an awful state!
Worried by this, the man reduced the number of
signs and began to sell fruit of inferior quality
because it was cheaper. Sales slumped immediately.
"My son is right," he thought. "Times are very
hard."