The Stonecutter

A chinese tale.

Читать другие небольшие и простые тексты на английском для начинающих

Once upon a time there was a stone cutter. The stone cutter lived in a land where a life of
privilege meant being powerful. Looking at his life he decided that he was unsatisfied with the
way things were and so he set out to become the most powerful thing in the land.
Looking around his land he wondered to himself what is it to be powerful. Looking up he saw
the Sun shining down on all the land. «The Sun must be the most powerful thing that there is, for
it shines down on all things, and all things grow from it’s touch.» So he became the Sun.
Days later, as he shone his power down on the inhabitants of the land, there came a cloud which
passed beneath him obstructing his brilliance. Frustrated he realized that the Sun was not the
most powerful thing in the land, if a simple cloud could interrupt his greatness. So he became a
cloud, in fact, he became the most powerful storm that the world had ever seen.
And so he blew his rain and lightning, and resounded with thunder all over the land,
demonstrating that he was the most powerful. Until one day he came across a boulder.
Down and down he poured and his thunder roared, lightning flashed and filled the sky, striking
the ground near the boulder. His winds blew and blew and blew, and yet, despite all his efforts,
he could not budge the boulder.
Frustrated again, he realized that the storm was not the most powerful thing in the land, rather it
must be the boulder. So he became the boulder.
For days he sat, unmovable, and impassive, demonstrating his power, until one day, a stone
cutter came and chiseled him to bits.
The moral of the story is: sometimes the most important thing to remember is that you have
everything you need already, right inside of you. Power is an illusion.