Once, a 6-year-old kid went to the market with his 3-year-old sister. Suddenly, the youngster saw that his sister was falling behind. He paused and turned back; his sister was standing in front of a toy store, watching something with great curiosity. The boy returned to her and inquired, “Do you want something?” The sister pointed to the doll. The boy took her hand and, like a good elder brother, handed her the doll.

The sister was quite thrilled. The shopkeeper was watching everything and was thrilled to observe the youngster’s mature behavior. The boy approached the counter and said, “What is the cost of this doll, Sir?” The shopkeeper, a gentleman who had faced adversity in life, asked the youngster, full of love and affection, “Well, what can you pay?” The child removed shells he had collected from the beach from his pocket and handed them to the merchant.

The shopkeeper began counting the shells as if they were currency. He then stared at the boy. “Is it too little, Sir?” the youngster inquired, concerned. The merchant replied, “No, no… these are more than the price. So I’ll refund the remainder.” Saying so, he kept only four shells and returned the rest. The child gleefully placed the shells back in his pocket and left with his sister.

All of this caught an employee off guard. “Sir, you gave away such a costly doll just for 4 shells?” he said of the store. The merchant smiled and said, “Well, for us, these are only shells, but for that boy, they are really valuable. And, at this age, he does not comprehend what money is, but when he grows up, he will. And then he will remember that he bought a doll with shells rather than money, and he will remember me and believe that the world is still full of decent and loving people.”