Once there was a lonely boy who had no one to help him or care for him, neither father nor mother, aunts nor uncles, nor any other relatives.

The boy was wandering through the streets, hungry and unhappy, when a kind man found him and took him home. He fed the boy and gave him nice clothes to wear and a clean bed in which to sleep.

The boy remained with the man, went to school and studied. When he grew up, he learned a trade, so that he would be able to earn a living for himself. The kind man gave him a house and money to open a workshop. Soon the young man was quite rich.

But the man who had been so kind to him suddenly lost his money and became quite poor. "I will go to the young man whom I took care of all these years, and I will ask him for some money," he thought. "He will surely want to help me."

He went to the young man and was warmly welcomed. They had a long, friendly conversation. They spoke about many things. The older man was ashamed to ask for money, but finally, in a soft voice so that no one else should hear, he said, "I have come to ask a favor -- a loan. I have lost all of my money, and I have nothing left to support myself with."

The young man felt very bad that this kind man, who had done him so many favors and had given so much money to the poor, must now ask for money himself. He tried to comfort his friend, while to himself he thought, "I wonder how I can help him without embarrassing him?" Then he had an idea. "I will give him a gift without letting him know that it's from me."

He told the man, "God will surely help you because of your good deeds, and you will be as prosperous as before."

But he did not give the poor man any money. He merely said, "It is hard for me to give you money right now. But I will see... I will try... we will talk some more about this matter."

The man took leave of his friend and went home.

As soon as he left, the young man called one of his servants and instructed him to put on patched and torn clothes. Then he gave him an expensive pearl and sent him to the home of the good man.

When the man answered the door, the servant showed him the precious jewel.

"Do you want to buy a beautiful pearl?" he asked.

"How much does it cost?" asked the man. "One dinar," the servant replied.

"That is very cheap!" thought the man. "I only have one dinar, but it's surely worth spending it on a pearl. I should be able to sell the pearl at a good profit." So he bought the pearl and paid for it with his only coin.

A few days later the young man sent out another servant, dressed in beautiful clothes and with a great deal of money, and told him just what to do. The servant, looking like a rich man, went to the poor man's home and said, "I have heard that you sell pearls. I need one beautiful pearl. Do you have one for sale?"

The man took out the pearl he had bought a few days earlier. "This is exactly what I want!" exclaimed the servant. "Will you sell it for 1,000 dinars?"

The man readily agreed to sell the jewel, and the servant returned the pearl to his master.

The poor man thus received a large sum of money, without knowing that it was really a gift from the young man. He went happily to the young man and said, "You needn't worry about helping me anymore. Thank God, I was able to make a good sale and was left with a fine profit.

Both men were very pleased. The good man was happy he didn't need charity, and the young man was happy to have given tzedakah without embarrassing the person who received it.