Once upon a time, an emperor saw that the end of his life was near, and decided it was time to choose a successor. He had no wife or next of kin, so he chose to pass the throne to one lucky child in his kingdom. So he summoned children from all parts of the land to present themselves at the castle.
When the children arrived, he gave each of them a single seed saying, “I want you to plant your seed, give it water, and take care of it. Exactly one year from today, return to the castle with the plant you’ve grown. The child who grows the best plant will be the next emperor!”
One of the lucky children who received a seed that day was a little girl named Jiao. She ran home and carefully planted the seed in a pot. Every day she watered and cared for the seed. Soon after, other children began to boast about their beautiful plants, but Jiao’s pot was still empty. The seed hadn't grown.
A year went by, and it was time for the children to return to the palace to show the emperor what they had grown. Jiao didn’t want to go with her empty pot, but her mother told her to be honest about her failure. Dejected, Jiao returned to the castle, and stood at the back of the throne room, she waited to be judged.
The emperor entered the room and walked from child to child admiring their beautiful plants. Tears streamed down Jiao’s cheeks. The emperor eventually stood before Jiao and her empty pot, and asked for her name. “Jiao,” she said. “Where is your plant, Jiao?”
Hanging her head in shame, she told the truth, “I watered the seed every day, your Highness, but it would not grow. I failed.”
Suddenly, the emperor’s voice boomed throughout the room, “Behold! Your next emperor! Her name is Jiao!”
Silence swept over the room as the emperor explained: “One year ago, I gave everyone a boiled seed that would not grow. Only Jiao had the courage to share the truth. She will lead our country well!”
Lesson Learned:
Being honest is not that difficult if you are true to yourself and to others especially to the elders..
