A
wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious
stone in a
stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and
the wise
woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw
the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him.
She did so without hesitation.
The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the
stone was
worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days
later he
came back to return the stone to the wise woman. "I've been
thinking," he
said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back
in the hope that
you can give me something even more precious:
Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the
stone." |