Once upon a time, lived a rich
and wise king. His palace was near a small village. He loved his people. The king did anything to help the
villagers make their living. He also gave the children presents on their
birthday. However, what the king did made the villagers lazy. They thought it
was useless to work because the king would give them anything.
The king did not want his people
become lazy. One day, he got up early in the morning and told his soldiers
to put a big stone in the middle of the road near his palace and put a bag of
some gold money under the stone. Then he waited to see what would happen.
A poor man came along riding a
cow. He grumbled because the stone lay in his path. He walked around the
stone and went on his way. Then a farmer came. He was on his way to the
mill. He complained, too. He did the same thing like the previous man.
So the day passed. Everyone who
came across the stone were grumbling and complaining about it because it was
blocking their way. However, no one tried to move it, even touched it.
When the dusk came, a boy passed
the road. He looked very tired because he had been working very hard at the mill that day.
"It is almost dark. Somebody
may stumble over this stone in the night and perhaps will be badly hurt. I'll remove it off the way," said the boy.
So, he tugged the stone. It was a
hard work because the stone was very heavy. However, the boy was quite
tough. He pulled and pushed it all the way and finally the stone was
successfully removed.
The boy was so surprised to find
a bag under the stone. Upon the bag was written: "THIS GOLD BELONGS TO THE ONE WHO MOVES THE STONE!"
The boy went home happily and the
king, relieved, went back to his palace. He was glad that finally he found someone who was not afraid of
working hard.
