Long ago, there were a mother and a son living in a house. She worked hard everyday, but they were always poor.

One day, her son stole his friend's bag. "Mom, what do you think of this bag?" His mother praised her son rather than scolding him. "It looks great!"

The next time, he stole an overcoat. She praised him again when he stole it.

A few years later, he grew up to be a young man. He stole jewelry¹ and brought them to his mother. "How beautiful!" This time, she did not scold her son again.

Then, because he was elated by his mother, he started to steal more expensive things. One day, the police caught him. Before putting him in jail², he begged the police to meet his mother. They took him to his mother.

As soon as he saw his mother, he bit her earlobe. "Ouch! What's the matter with you?" She finally scolded him. Her son answered. "If you had given me a scolding like that when I stole the first bag, I could not have become a thief."

She collapsed³ as she looked at her son heading to prison. "If I only could turn back time, I would scold him severely⁴." She regretted that she always praised him, whatever he did.