#030 THE RING AND ITS VALUE
A young man went to a sage for help.
“I come, teacher, because I feel so small that I have no strength to do anything. People tell me I’m good for nothing, I don’t do anything right, I’m clumsy and rather silly. How can I improve myself? What can I do that will make them think well of me?”
The teacher, without looking up, replied, “I’m sorry boy, but I can’t help you. I have to solve my own problem first. Maybe later.” But after a pause, he added, “If you would like to help me, I could solve this problem faster, and then maybe I can help you.”
Though delighted, the youth stammered to the teacher, feeling worthless as usual, his needs again subordinated.
“Well, then,” agreed the teacher. He took off a ring he was wearing on his little finger and gave it to the boy, saying, “Take the horse out there and ride to the market place. I have to sell this ring to pay a debt. We have to get as much for it as we possibly can, but don’t accept anything less than a gold coin. Go, and come back with the money as quickly as you can.”
The youth took the ring and left. As soon as he got there, he started offering the ring to the traders. They looked at it with some interest, until the youth said what he wanted for the ring. When the young man mentioned gold, some laughed and others turned away, and only an old man was kind enough to take the trouble to explain that a gold coin was too much to pay for a ring. Eager to help, someone offered him a silver coin and a few coppers, but the youth had been instructed to accept nothing less than a gold coin and rejected the offer.
After offering his jewel to every person passing through the market place, over a hundred people, and dejected by his failure, he mounted his horse and rode back.
How much the youth wished that he had a gold coin himself that he could give the teacher and release him from his worry, and then receive his advice and help.
He entered the room and told the teacher, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t get what you asked. Maybe I could’ve gotten two or three silver coins, but I don’t think I could’ve convinced anyone of the true value of the ring.”
“How important is what you just said, my young friend” responded the teacher, smiling. “We must first find out the true value of the ring. Get yourself together and go to the jeweler. Who better than he to tell us? Tell him you would like to sell the ring, and ask him how much he’d give you for it, but no matter what he offers, don’t sell it. Come back here with my ring.”
The young man rode back. The jeweler examined the ring by lamplight with his magnifying glass, weighed it, and then said, “Tell the teacher, boy, that if he wants to sell it right now, I can’t give him more than 58 gold coins for his ring.
58 gold coins?!!!!!!!!! cried the youth.
“Yes,” replied the jeweler, “If he had more time, he could probably find a buyer at 70 coins. Otherwise….”
The excited youth hurried back to the teacher’s house to tell him what happened.
“Sit down,” said the teacher after listening to him. “You are like this ring: a worthy and unique jewel. The only person who can understand your true worth is an expert. Why do you go around expecting that anyone you meet on the street knows your true worth?” So saying, he put the ring back on his little finger.
Nice story! It has an interesting topic to talk about. If we look around, we realize that most people in society criticise others for everything (Probably, in every society). A clear evidence of that are those TV programmes that consist only in criticising celebrities, reality shows, etc. Another example could be social networks, where we can find hundreds of retouched photos of "perfect people" ... Sadly, what society often says through social networks is that you must have certain phisical characteristics or have an specific way of being to be "perfect". However, the reality is obviously different. It's a beautiful reality that many people have not realized yet.. Well, basically the point is that, as the moral says: We must learn to love and value ourselves. We mustn't make the mistake of want to be like others, leaving aside our own personality. Remember whatever you do, people will always criticise you. Just be yourself and enjoy life without hurting anyone! : )
ReplyDeleteWriting mistake in the first paragraph: that most people in *OUR* society.
DeleteLow self-esteem is a major problem, nowadays people do what other people do, they don't have their own personality, they become crazy for having likes as if it gives them something, in fact it's nonsense, anyway hopefully they will realise their big mistake someday.
DeleteA mistake? It's part of learning :) so no worries :3
DeleteVery good story, I like the subject that deals, because that is what many teenagers feel today. Now most teenagers care more about how people see them instead of caring how they see themselves. People are always going to criticize others, be it how they look, what they have or their personality; it's just a waste of time to please others, worry about loving yourself. The biggest contributors to these problems are social networks and even movies or current series, putting the image of '' perfect youth '' and stereotypes in schools, like the nerds, the deportists, the populars, the gotics, etc. I hope this story helps to understand people to love themselves.
ReplyDeletebeautiful story, I think we are currently guided by society and its prototypes, waiting for the acceptance of others, this story teaches us that the first person who must accept us is ourselves, that is our own "jeweler"
ReplyDeleteROSARIO REBOLLEDO
Great story with one with a message that is very true, the fact that many people do not see the best of us does not mean that we are bad at something, but that we should not wait for them to see the best of us first, without matter what people think we should move on.
ReplyDelete