showing one’s Mettle

SHOWING ONE’S METTLE he broke open their boxes, stole jewels worth about one lakh of rupees, and escaped into the darkness. as he went furtively on his way, he passed by two police officers on night duty. sensing something suspicious in his movements, they detained him for interrogation. on being threatened with dire consequences, he broke down and confessed to his crime, handing over the stolen goods to the two police officers, sheikh Mahboob and sheikh rasheed. They then took him and his entire loot to the police station. The police officers on duty greatly appreciated the honesty of these two policemen, who could easily have felt tempted to enrich themselves in such a situation. in addition to giving them a cash reward, they also had them promoted, sheikh Mahboob becoming station officer and sheikh rasheed becoming head Constable. how opposite were the implications for different people involved in a single event! virtue was rewarded, and crime was punished. however, there is nothing accidental in the one event simultaneously giving rise to such different consequences: such events are the divine instruments by which God puts different individuals to the test. Where one man would bring discredit upon himself, another would cover himself in glory. The individual concerned would reveal himself in his true colours in each case. Where sheikh Mahboob and sheikh rasheed evinced the sterling qualities of strict honesty and dedication to duty, ramaya revealed himself for the base, unprincipled scoundrel that he was and was rightly sentenced to life imprisonment. The world