Folktale: Importance of honesty

In an imaginary land lived a king without an heir. He was on his death bed. He knew that before he met with his ancestors, he had to appoint someone he could trust to be the next king. He needed an honest man for the position.

He told his right hand man, "invite all the eligible young men to my palace. I need to appoint your next king". The right hand man did as he was told.

On the appointed day, the palace was filled with young men from all descents. They were all eager to be chosen as heirs to the throne. Some of them were from poor backgrounds, so they hoped to change their lives for good if they are successfully chosen as heirs. The rich ones amongst them thought that the king will choose a rich and noble heir.

When the king's aid came to address them, he gave each and everyone of them a seed. He said to them, "the king orders that you all go home and nurture these seeds. Come back here in three months from now to present what you have grown to the king. They all left with the seeds given to them.

Among those who where present in the kings palace was a sickly poor boy. He went home with his seed and showed his mother who helped him to nurture it. The seed was placed in a pot filled with fertile sand.

Days turned into weeks but the seed refused to germinate. The boy was distressed. He said to his mother, "I think I was given a bad seed. The ones given to my friends have all germinated. Isn't it better that I replace the seed so as not to go back to the king with an empty pot". His mother advised him against doing so. According to her, honesty demanded that he grows the exact seed given by the king.

Days passed slowly and soon it was three months. It was the day they were to present the seed they have grown but the sickly boy's seed never germinated. He took his empty pot to the king's palace. He felt awkward when he saw that every other person has a pot with a germinated seed inside. The potted plants were all beautiful. He was mocked by others for not knowing how to grow a simple plant.

When it was time to present their seedlings to the king, the others gladly presented theirs. When the king saw the sickly boy, he said to the crowd, "I have found an honest heir to my throne and wealth. I gave you all cooked seed to grow but you all came back with germinated seeds. Whoever told you that a cooked seed can grow!"

It turned out that every one of them changed their seeds when it refused to grow. It was the sickly poor boy that was honest enough to have not changed his seed.

All images from Google