the "parable of the talents", in tells of a master who was leaving his house to travel, and, before leaving, entrusted his property to his servants. according to the abilities of each man, one servant received five talents, the second had received two, and the third received only one. the property entrusted to the three servants was worth 8 talents, where a talent was a significant amount of money. upon returning home, after a long absence, the master asks his three servants for an account of the talents he entrusted to them. the first and the second servants explain that they each put their talents to work, and have doubled the value of the property with which they were entrusted; each servant was rewarded: