The Stone Cutter

                        There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and
                        with his position in life.

                        One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open
                        gateway, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors.
                        "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He
                        became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.

                        To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying
                        more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and
                        detested by those less wealthy than himself. Soon a high official
                        passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and
                        escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how
                        wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that
                        official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!"

                        Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his
                        embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around.
                        It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the
                        sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the
                        sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun is!" he
                        thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"

                        Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone,
                        scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge
                        black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could
                        no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm
                        cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"

                        Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted
                        at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away
                        by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. "How powerful
                        it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"

                        Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses,
                        uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while,
                        he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how
                        forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock. "How powerful
                        that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!"

                        Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth.
                        But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a
                        chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. "What
                        could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought.

                        He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.
 

                                                                    (Author Unknown to me )