Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

"Life's under no obligation to give us what we expect."
-  Margaret Mitchell

Once upon a time, there was a farmer who used an old mare to till his fields. One day, the mare escaped into the woods and the farmer’s neighbors get together and sympathized with the old man over his bad luck. The farmer replied, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

A week later, the mare returned with a young stallion from the woods and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his great and good luck. His reply

Which lion wins?

“You make the world a better place by making yourself a better person.”

- Scott Sorrell

Once upon a time, grandfather sat his grandson on his lap and told him a story, a true tale of life.

“There is a raging battle in the soul of every man. Not unlike the clash of two lions, this battle is fought in the soul of each and every one of us. One lion represents EVIL - rage, jealousy, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, sin, anger, inadequacy, deceit, false pride...

The other lion represents GOOD. He represents true joy – peace, harmony, love, hope, enjoyment, optimism, friendliness, kindness, warmth, generosity, truth and compassion.”

A righteous verdict

"Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right."

- Isaac Asimov

Once upon a time, a rich merchant lost a bag full of gold coins. Looking everywhere but not finding it, he finally hired a herald to walk around the city and tell everyone that he will reward the honest finder with 100 gold coins. Not long after the herald finished delivering the rich merchant’s message, a poor farmer showed up on a merchant’s doorstep.

“Here merchant, I believe that this is your lost bag of coins” he told the rich man. Filled with delight, rich merchant grabbed the bag and immediately started counting the coins. After he counted it all, he suddenly saddened, since he remembered that he had to give 100 coins to the farmer as promised. After some thought, he had an idea how to keep the coins and swindle the honest finder.

“I see that you have already taken your 100 coins my good man,” he told the farmer “There were 800 gold coins in this bag and now there are only 700. You have done well. Thank you!”

Poor farmer was very surprised to hear this, more hurt by the lie than not getting the promised reward. He started swearing that he never even opened the bag and that the brought it as he found it. Unfortunately, the rich merchant insisted that there were 800 coins in the bag and now only 700. Not being able to reach an agreement, they went to the city judge, each one hoping to receive favorable verdict.

This too shall pass

"Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."
- Harriet Beecher Stowe

Once upon a time, in a faraway Chinese province, lived a poor scribe who lived with his only and very much loved son. He was so poor, that the only inheritance he could leave to his son was knowledge of calligraphy.

Then, one day, it came time for the poor scribe to depart this valley of tears. Before he passed away, he gave his son two small boxes, one white and one black. “Alas, I have nothing to leave to you except this. Please, my son, remember and keep them always with you. When one day, you are in terrible sorrow, and it seems that life is not worth living anymore, open the black box. White one you keep, and open it when you think that you are the luckiest man on earth.” Saying this, the old man died and the son was left weeping, holding one black and one white box.

As he was now alone, young man went from job to job, often forced to work hard and long, just for daily bread. He wandered from province to province, slept hungry in forests, without any opportunity to find his place under the sun. One morning, he woke up feeling pain from hard work in all his joints and started weeping. “This is the end; I can’t live like this anymore” he thought. Suddenly, as he remembered his fathers dying words, he reached in this bag and with his trembling hands, opened the black box.

Survival lesson

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

- Dale Carnegi

Once upon a time, on a hot summer day a farmer’s donkey fell down a deep well. For hours on end, the poor animal cried out in distress as the farmer tried to imagine a way to get the donkey out. Finally he determined, since the poor donkey was really rather old and not worth saving, besides, he decided to use this accident to his advantage by covering over the well.

Thus, he invited all of his neighbors over to help him cover the well and put the old donkey out of its misery.  Courteously, the other farmers dropped by, grabbed shovels and began to scoop dirt down into the well.

The donkey realized what was happening and cried out wretchedly in despair.  After some time, he quickly quieted down and, much to their amazement, looked up at them almost calculatingly. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was amazed at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something incredible. He would simply shake it off, and climbed on top of the falling dirt.

The highest price

"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." 

- Henry David Thoreau

Once upon a time, as the Christmas was nearing, old jeweler watched the people passing by his exclusive store. A petite girl came around the corner and pressed her nose against the window. Her sky blue eyes sparkled as she saw something exhibited at the store’s front and she ran in.

She decisively pointed at the beautiful blue turquoise necklace. “I want this as a gift for my sister! Can you please wrap it up?” 

“How much money do you have?” asked the jeweler in astonishment.

The girl placed the battered old tin box on the counter and emptied it. Inside, there were several small bills, couple of coins, few seashells and small figurines. “Will this be enough?” she asked proudly. “I want to buy the Christmas present for my elder sister. Ever since we lost our mother, she takes care of both of us, and works all day long without any time for herself. I am sure that she will be overjoyed to have this gift. You see, her eyes are the same color as that jewel!”

Who is that girl?

"People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.  When you figure out which it is, you’ll know exactly what to do."

-  Michelle Ventor

Once upon the time, a thirteen-year-old son of a wealthy mandarin official had a dream in which he met the old Sage and learned that he was destined to wed the girl who worked in the fruit stand across the street. When he awoke, he was quite skeptical, but, curious as he was, he went out to have a look at the girl.

She was six years old, was completely filthy, and had a stream of snot running from her nose. He was horrified and furious! “I am never going to marry this horrible abomination!” In his anger, he threw a rock that hit her eyebrow and sent her crying into the house.

A decade passed, and son of the mandarin official, now 23, took the imperial exams and received his first government job. Since the rulers respected and honored his father, a marriage was arranged for him to the daughter of the Prime Minister.

If I had known this...

O! What men dare do! What men may do! What men daily do, not knowing what they do!

- William Shakespeare

Once upon a time, king with his large entourage went sailing across the sea. On the second night of a journey, a terrible storm struck and the ship sunk. Only the king, his queen and youngest daughter managed to wash ashore at some small village in a far away land.

In this land, nobody has ever heard about his kingdom and he had no money with which to support the family. They were even afraid to acknowledge that they were a royal family. Since they had to eat, the king went looking for work and, being the king, he did not have any usable skill. Only job he managed to get was a shepherd, taking care of the village’s sheep.

Several years passed and the prince of this country arrived in the village where they lived. He noticed the king’s daughter, which has grown into a very beautiful girl, and vowed that he will marry no other girl but the shepherd's daughter.

His father, the king, tried to dissuade him, but seeing that the prince was unwavering, he sent envoys to the shepherd, asking his daughter to marry a prince. The shepherd received the envoys, thanked them for this offer and asked what handcraft was the prince skilled in? The envoys were outraged. “What need does the prince and future king have for a craft? He has lands and servants!”