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Apr. 28, 2005 Many years ago, grandpa told me a story. At the time I did not quite understand the meaning of it. As time passes, and I grow older, the story comes back to me like a soft whisper in the wind and I know now what he tried to tell me. It feels only yesterday that he held me in his arms speaking softly as the sun slowly sank towards the distant horizon, and his voice clear and tender. Long ago, there was a farmer. He found a stone in the mountain near his home. The stone was about the size of a head and very heavy, with rough edges, nothing special from the look of it, but the farmer insisted that he found a priceless treasure, and at once he presented it to the king. The king took a glance at the ugly looking stone and was very angry. "This is a worthless rock," he said. "Do you realize the penalty of lying to your king?" But the farmer did not retract his words. The king¡¯s guards threw him and his precious stone out of the palace and broke one of the farmer¡¯s legs. Years went by, the aging king passed away, his son took over the crown, and the farmer once again came to the palace and presented the new king his priceless treasure. The result was the same. The king did not believe him and the royal guards broke his other leg and threw him and his stone out of the palace. People said to the farmer that the stone gave him bad luck, he should throw it away, but he did not listen to them. "Someday, you will see what I proclaim is true," said he proudly. Two decades went by, the palace welcomed a new king to the throne. By then, the farmer was old and penniless, and he had to beg for food, yet still he kept the stone and guarded it as if it was a jewel with a great value. One day, the king came out of his palace and found the farmer knelt alongside of the road holding a rock in his hands. The king was curious and asked him what it was. A priceless jade, my lord, he told him with a weak but firm voice. The king took the stone into his hands and carefully examined it, and then he called upon the most experienced jeweler of his kingdom to look at the stone. Indeed, within the rough edges of the plain looking rock lay a priceless treasure; after learning the farmer¡¯s story, the king was very impressed. He named the farmer the most honest and honorable citizen of his land, and the farmer was handsomely rewarded and greatly respected by everyone in the kingdom. When I first heard the story, I thought the
farmer was a fool, wasting his time and energy
like that, just for a piece of a stone that may
or may not hold a value. His firm believes
brought him ill fortune, yet, never for a moment
did he think of giving it up, and without his
persistence, the great treasure might never have
the chance to see the sun. |
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