The parable of good and bad deeds

A spoonful of tar in a barrel of honey

Once again, Grandfather welcomed his little ones with a kind smile and a jar of jam.

— Grandfather, — pleaded Oscar, — I worked every day, doing different things, both good and bad. And even more good than bad! And the bad ones I took were the cheapest and most insignificant! What's wrong with that? I did so many good deeds at the fair of life, but my house of life is still in a mess!

— Here, look children, — said Grandfather with a smile, — you have done many bad deeds and only one good one. What will remain of the walls in your house after a rain? Just a couple of bricks from all the walls, my children! And if you do half bad deeds and half good, what will remain of the walls? Half the house or even less. And can you live in such a house? Of course not. Do you want to live in this kind of house? And now you have done many good deeds and only one bad one and have built the walls of your house, what will happen after a storm? That's right, there will be a hole in the wall, and it won't be small… Even one bad deed will leave a hole, but you were given many bricks for that bad deed, and you used them all to build the walls of your life's house. Can you live in such a house? It will probably be uncomfortable for you and your friends…

— Well, that's going too far! How can we do without any bad deeds at all! That's impossible! — Oscar cried and wept.

— Fortunately, it is possible, — said Grandfather.

— What's fortunate about it!? — Oscar wailed, but then he jumped up and shouted joyfully, — I understand it all now! We need to destroy the cave! We need to break their underground factory! Destroy everything, and make them forget the recipe for their holey bricks. If there's no brick factory, they won't sell their bad deeds. It's all about the cave! Tomorrow we'll fly there, sneak into the cave, find out what they make their bricks from, destroy all the documentation and equipment, and our world will be saved!

Grandpa wasn't very happy with this plan, but there was nothing he could do. Trying to persuade the youngsters with reasoning was useless against their plucky spirit. Grandpa still wanted to tell the kids a lot of useful and sensible things: about the snakes, and how to distinguish between good and bad deeds, but the kids didn't want to listen anymore. «So, it's not the right time yet», — Grandpa decided and gave them invisibility hats and a jar of jam to help. He advised them to stay at his house until morning and to gather their strength before their important adventure.