and took shelter under the shade of a tree.
There were others who enjoyed the wonderful breeze under the trees and sleeping peacefully.
An elderly person reached the lake and moved from tree to tree looking for a particular person among those who slept there.
A little back ground information to this story is necessary.
An young man was a distant relative of elderly persson. While he himself was known to be a well educated person while the parents of the youngster, were not.
The parents of the young man felt that their son did not pursue a job and life which any normal youth of his age and time did. He spent all his time in fun and leisure. The parents commissioned their learned relative to bring some sense into their son. The story continues.
After a long search the learned man identified the Young man he was looking for and called him out gently.
It took a few minutes, for the young man who was deeply asleep, to wake-up. It was obvious that he did not like his being disturbed from his sleep. At the same time he had some respect for his visitor. He sat- up and greeted the visitor.
The visitor spent a little while in talking about himself and enquired about the lad.
After a brief silence, he advised the lad seek an employment somewhere.
The lad was quite cool. He nodded in affirmative.
The visitor was pleased.
The lad, his parents observed, was quite abnormal in his behavior. He was detached from his family and was freely wandering like any madman or god man would. The elderly person is a distant relative of this lad and respected by everyone in the family.
He was happy that his job was almost done. The lad questioned the visitor, as what he should do after he is employed.
The visitor became enthusiastic. The lad replied the visitor that he would get married to a girl identified by the visitor’s choice. and live happily.
The visitor was happy that his job was almost done. The lad questioned the visitor, as what he should do, next.
The visitor replied that he would have children.
“After having children, what should he do”, demanded the lad.
Care them, bring them up, educate them, get them employed and married. Then they will have children and so on.
The lad continued. My children would take care of their children as I would be taking care of my children. “What is next for me?”.
The visitor concluded,” then, you can relax”. The lad laughed and retorted to the visitor that he is already doing that.
He asked the visitor, if he was sure that the ultimate act in the entire exercise is to relax. He then continued, “ I am already doing it”. “Why should he go through several steps at all?”
The visitor was dumbfounded and left the place as a disappointed person.
Is the argument of the lad right? If not what is wrong? Discuss this story
Theme: No one is superior to any other person
( All the time and in every situation).
(1) Every one is superior to others some time, in some situations.
(2) No profession is superior to another.
(3) It is our foolishness to link one’s superiority with education, social position and possessions.
Two stories to highlight this theme follows.
Theme: No one is superior to any other.
STORY 16
The Boatman And The Teacher
The story is based on a Persian tale. It is possible the reader could have heard or read this, several times over. But it is worth reading it once more to link the story with a very useful message.
There are several stories with the same theme in other parts of the world. This suggests that people existed everywhere and all the time with arrogance and false pride.
Society in the east, consider teaching as the most respected among professions, next only to peasantry which produces food for every one in the society. Here goes the story.
A newly appointed teacher comes to a village located on a riverside, for living. He commutes to a village on the other side of the river every day.
He needs to take the boat service every day.
The hero in this story, is the boatman.
The unlettered boatman invited the teacher and offered him a free ride to the other bank of the river where the teacher worked.
The teacher, having accepted the courtesy shown by the boatman started a conversation. “What kind of weather will we have today?”
The boatman checked the direction of the wind, looked up at the sun, wrinkled his brow, and replied, “ we is going to have a storm.”
Horrified by this reply, the teacher made a face and said critically, “ you should not say ‘we is’ but say ‘we are’. Didn’t you ever learn grammar?”
The illiterate boatman responded to this reprimand with nothing but a shrug of his shoulders. “How do I know grammar?” he asked.
The teacher was at his wits’ end. “You don’t know river !”
Just as the boatman had predicted, dark clouds developed on the horizon, a strong wind whipped the waves, and the boat tossed about in the rough sea.
In no time there was lots of water in the boat and the boatman asked the teacher, “Have you ever learned to swim?”
The teacher replied in negative. “No. I did not learn to swim” .
Grinning from ear to ear, the boatman replied, “Well, in that case your whole life is down the river because our boat is going to sink any minute now!”
The teacher did not live long enough to understand, that the grammar that he knew would not have helped him to survive.
The second story on the above theme, is also told in several ways. After reading these stories, I am sure the readers will respect every profession, equally.
Theme: No one is superior to any other.
Short story 17
The Stone cutter.
There are stone-cutters in almost all parts of the world. They cut stones from rocks
– small and big. The builders of houses, temples, palaces and bridges, are their typical customers. As it is today, they have demand for their services, all through the year.
This story is about a Stone-cutter who lived a few centuries ago in Japan. He went every day to a great rock on the side of a big mountain and cut out slabs for gravestones or for building houses.
He understood very well the kinds of stones wanted for the different purposes, and as he was a careful workman he had plenty of customers. For a long time he was quite happy and contended, and asked for nothing better than what he had.
Now in the mountain dwelt a spirit which now and then appeared to men, and helped them in many ways to become rich and prosperous. The stone-cutter, however, had never seen this spirit, and only shook his head, with an unbelieving air, when anyone spoke of it. But a time was coming when he learned to change his opinion.
One day the stonecutter carried a gravestone to the house of a rich man, and saw there all sorts of beautiful things, of which he had never even dreamt. Suddenly his daily work seemed to grow harder and heavier, and he said to himself: “Oh, if only I were a rich man, and could sleep in a bed with silken curtains and golden tassels, how happy I should be!”
And a voice answered him: “Your wish is heard; a rich man you shall be!”
At the sound of the voice the stonecutter looked around, but could see nobody. He thought it was all his fancy, and picked up his tools and went home, for he did not feel inclined to do any more work that day. But when he reached the little house where he lived, he stood still with amazement, for instead of his wooden hut was a stately palace filled with splendid furniture, and most splendid of all was the bed, in every respect like the one he had envied.
He was overwhelmed with joy, and in his past life was soon forgotten.
It was now the beginning of summer, and each day the sun blazed more fiercely. One morning the heat was so great that the stonecutter could scarcely breathe, and he determined he would stop at
home till the evening. He was rather dull, for he had never learned how to amuse himself, and was peeping through the closed blinds to see what was going on in the street, when a little carriage passed by, drawn by servants dressed in blue and silver.
In the carriage sat a prince, and over his head a golden umbrella was held, to protect him from the sun’s rays.
“Oh, if I were only a prince!” said the stonecutter to himself, as the carriage vanished around the corner. “Oh, if I were only a prince, and could go in such a carriage and have a golden umbrella held over me, how happy I should be!”
And a prince he was. Before his carriage rode one company of men and another behind it; servants dressed in scarlet and gold bore him along, the coveted umbrella was held over his head, everything his heart could desire was his. But yet it was not enough. He looked around still for something to wish for, and when he saw that in spite of the water he poured on the grass the rays of the sun scorched it, and that in spite of the umbrella held over his head each day his face grew browner and browner, he cried in his anger: “The sun is mightier than I; oh, if I were only the sun!”
And the mountain spirit answered: “Your wish is heard; the sun you shall be.”
And the sun he was, and felt himself proud in his power. He shot his beams above and below, on earth and in heaven; he burnt up the grass in the fields and scorched the faces of princes as well as of poorer folk. but in a short time he began to grow tired of his might, for there seemed nothing left for him to do. Discontent once more filled his soul, and when a cloud covered his face, and hid the earth from him, he cried in his anger: “Does the cloud hold captive my rays, and is it