A river ran through the village road, and people had to cross it to get to the market. Children would cross the river to go to school every day.
One day, it rained nonstop, and there was a big flood. The villagers couldn’t cross the river. The students couldn’t get to school. During this time, the villagers didn’t know what to do. They discussed building a bridge together.
There was a wealthy man in the village. He promised that when winter came, he would build a bridge over the river. The villagers were really happy and waited for him.
So winter came. The villagers were hoping the bridge would finally get built. Thinking that he had forgotten to keep his promise, they reminded him that he needed to build it quickly.
At that moment, the gentleman lied, saying, “When I made the promise, I had money, but now I’m poor. I’m building a new house for my family, so I need some money. I can’t build the village bridge. It would be better if the villagers did it together.”
The villagers were hurt and realized there’s a big gap between words and actions. Even people without power can make promises, but they might not be able to follow through.