In Jesus’s Parable of the Prodigal Son, a young man demands his inheritance early, so he can go abroad and see life. In no time he is bankrupt, and reduced to keeping pigs; and as the pigs eat better than he does, he resolves to humble himself and go home for a job on his father’s estates.

On his return home, the chastened boy’s hopes rose no higher than the thought of getting a job as a servant; but he was welcomed joyfully by his father, who dressed him richly and had the calf he had been rearing for a special occasion slaughtered. Soon the sounds of merrymaking floated across the fields to his elder brother.

When the prodigal’s elder brother learnt the reason for the merrymaking, he was resentful: despite years of filial service, no one had ever done as much for him. But he had enjoyed all the comforts of home, his father reminded him, and the inheritance was now all his; he could afford to be happy that his family was together again.

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