Then one day the son was forced to join the army because of war. He had to leave his dad. Months passed and a dreadful letter came to his dad. The letter said that the son was missing in action. Still his dad waited. Then all hope was lost when his son was confirmed dead.
It was Christmas day and the father was not in the mood to celebrate it because he was still very sad over his son's death. Then a bell rang and there was this stranger with a package. He was actually in the army too. Actually the rich man's son made it to the safe zone, but he could not bear to see his wounded comrades out in the battlefield. So he carried them one by one into the safe zone. However, he was shot when he carried in the last person. And the stranger was that last person the rich man's son sacrificed his life for.
The man wanted to thank the father so he drew a portrait of his friend. The son told him that his dad and he really like fine arts. So, despite not being a great artist, he drew a portrait with much sincerity. They had a good chat and then the man left. The father took down his most treasured Rembrandt painting that was hung on the centre of the wall and replaced it with that portrait he got from the man.
Few months later the man died. The news spread like wildfire. Museum curators and private collectors were all coveting his prized collection. The auction day came and many filled the hall. All of them were anxiously holding their bidding cards.
The auctioneer welcomed everyone and started the auction with the son's portrait. He asked if anyone would like to have that portrait starting from 100 bucks. Sheer silence filled the hall. 50 bucks? Still no one raised their hand. By 40 bucks, many get annoyed and demanded that other masterpieces to be auctioned. However, the auctioneer said that the portrait had to be auctioned first. So eventually an old man stood up and said: "All I have is 10 dollars, would you still sell it to me. I lived next door and really like this good young chap."
SOLD!
The crowd was pleased and they thought finally the real auction had come, but to their surprise the auctioneer thanked everyone for coming and ended the auction. The crowd became angry and demanded a reason. Then the auctioneer plainly tell them:
"Mr ______ written on his will that whoever buys his son's portrait will inherit all the prized collections of his."
