The Prince And The Leaf

Once upon a time; there ruled a King. The King had a son who was ill mannered and short bad tempered.

The king himself, his courtiers and other learned men from his councel made several attempts to make prince understand the implications of temperament. They told him that his ill manners would leave bad impression on masses they upon. But the prince was stubborn. He paid no heed to anyone's advise.

One day, an old sage was passing across the palace. The sage face had a divine aura and his gait was confident. He held an alms bowl. When the King saw the sage, he was filled with contentment. He asked one of his courtiers to invite the sage.

The sage was welcomed and greatly honoured by the King and his courtsmen. He was served with food and water.

Later it came to King' s knowlege that the sage was homeless and had been searching for hermitage. The King was benevolent and offered hermitage to sage in his palace. The sage was happy and started living there.

One day, the king was upset. He approached the sage and said, "It been quite sometime you have been living here. You must have come to know about my son who is notorious for being short-tempered and ill-mannered. I am worried about him".

The King continued, "People of my kingdom dislike him for his ways and donot want him to succeed me. I have come here to request you to teach my son and bless him".

The King was confident that the sage would enlighen his son's mind and left him under his guidance.

The next morning,  the sage took the prince to palace garden for a walk.

While they were walking, the sage pointed to a small scrub and asked the prince, "Take a leaf from this scrub and eat it. Then let me know how it tastes".

Saying this, the sage went and sat under the tree and waited for the prince.

The prince plucked a leaf and tasted it. It was very bitter and he could not hold it in his mouth. The prince at once spat it. He was agasted. He thought that it was a poisionous plant. If allowed to grow, it could prove dangerous for people. He immediately uprooted the plant and crushed it under his feet.

The sage had been watching the prince. He came to the prince and said, "You uprooted and crushed the plant because it was poisionous and unworthy for people. It is the same way the people of your kingdom might do to you because they know you are ill tempered and live by wicked ways".

The sage further cautioned the prince, "If you are wicked, people might not allow you to rule and you may have to go to exile from this life of riches and respect that you get as a good King. I advise you to mend your ways and become compassionate and kind".

The sage message was well understood by the prince. From that day onwards, he became humble and acted wisely.

The king was highly pleased to see the change in his son. He was grateful to sage and thanked him.

Moral : Bad temperament doesn't win the hearts of people