Most of us pass by a poor man, a man in distress, and never pay any heed to him. We spurn a beggar like a disease. Only a few among us care to listen to the needy and help them with money or kind words.

This poem by James Kirkup draws out attention to this common, human weakness. It is a kind of parable- a story that teaches us a moral.

Because of a life of evil deeds,
a certain man now finds himself in hell.

Yama, king of those infernal regions,
Questions him severely, saying:
'In all your wicked life, did you ever encounter
any messengers from heaven?'
The man at once replies: 'No, my lord,
I never met such ones in all my life.'

Then Yama asks him, with piercing gaze,
'Did you ever meet people, old and infirm,
bent with age, and walking with a stick?'

The man replies, without hesitation:
'Oh, yes, my lord, I often saw such persons.
You can find them everywhere on earth:
No one takes any notice of them there.'

Then Yama tells careless fool:
'The reason you are suffering
The torments and the agonies of hell
Is that you passed those people by
Without a word, without a thought,
And did not recognize.

In that old man or that old woman
A heavenly messenger was sent to warn you
Of the evil of your ways,
And that you must change them
Before you, too, grow old.'