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Vol. II Number 3 October, November,
December 1997
FYI - by Leo Mamicpic
Dear Folks,
It's very easy for us to get caught up in the pressures and the hoopla of the holidays
that we forget its true message. To many of us, Christmas represents many different
meanings, of which Humility and Honesty come to mind. With this in mind, I would like to
share the following story with you. I received this piece through the internet from a
friend of mine in the Philippines. I asked her if she knew the author, however, she said
it was just forwarded to her without any reference to an author. We tried to track back,
but were unsuccessful to find it's original source. Perhaps one of you might know the
author and we'd appreciate hearing from you so we could give credit where credit is due.
To the Author: Whoever and wherever you are, we thank you!!!
The Emperor's Seed
(author unknown)
Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was coming time
to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or one of his own
children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young people in the
kingdom together one day. He said, "It has come time for me to step down and to
choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked!
But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One
seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come
back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then
judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of
the kingdom!"
There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others, received a
seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot
and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he
would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the
other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four
weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing. By now others were talking about their plants
but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by--still
nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and
tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just
kept waiting for his seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the
emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot.
But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened.
Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to
the palace.
When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths.
They were beautiful--in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many
of the other kids laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey, nice
try."
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just
tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have
grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next
emperor!"
All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He
ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows
I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he
replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to
quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new
emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his
seed. How could he be the new emperor?
Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you
to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all
boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and
plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another
seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring
me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"
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