Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The Boy with the Empty Flower Pot

Empty Flower Pot
Once upon a time, there was a king who lived in a kingdom far far away. He governed the kingdom well and the people loved him. However, the king was very sad because he did not have children of his own. One day he decided to adopt a son by selecting one child among his subjects to be groomed as his successor.

So the king gave seeds to all the children in his kingdom and asked them to grow flowers. The child with the most beautiful flowers would be his adopted son. So the children took care of their seeds by watering and fertilizing them. They all hoped to be the king’s adopted son.

There was a child by the name of Hau Hau who was also busy looking after his seed. Sadly, nothing seemed to grow, not even the bud. He was very upset because the deadline had approached to send the flowers to the king.

On the big day, all the children dressed in their best and went to see the king with their beautiful flowers. However, the king wasn’t happy at all. Suddenly he noticed Hau Hau standing among the children. He was listless with tears in his eyes. The king asked him, “Why are you carrying an empty flower pot?” Hau Hau explained that he tried very hard but nothing seemed to grow. Perhaps it was his punishment because he had stolen a bunch of grapes from someone‘s garden. Then the king laughed heartily and said loudly,” My boy, you are the child I am looking for!” “Why is it so?’ They all asked the king. The king replied,” I have cooked the seeds so you can’t grow anything out of them.” All the children with flowers in their pots looked down. They had used other seeds instead.

The moral of the story is that honesty is the best policy. It is one of the virtues of a good worker as mentioned in my article Characteristics of a Good Worker.

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