The Stone Cutter - A Japanese Legend

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letsjam
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The Stone Cutter - A Japanese Legend

Post by letsjam »

Long ago and far away there lived a stone cutter who took his hammer and chisel to cut slabs of rock from the mountains. These pieces of rock were used to build houses. He was a very good stone cutter, so there was always plenty for him to do, and he was happy. But one day, when he carried a polished piece of stone to the house of a rich man, he saw many beautiful things that he had never seen before.
“Oh!” he cried. “I wish I were rich. I wish I might sleep in a bed as soft as down.”
Then he picked up his tools and started home, but the spirit of the mountain had heard his wish. His poor little hut was gone. His new home was a wonderful palace, full of beautiful furniture, just like the rich man’s house. The stone cutter slept that night on a bed as soft as down.
When he awoke, he decided not to work anymore. He looked out his window to see who was going by. As he watched, a beautiful carriage rolled along pulled by snow white horses. Some servants were running in front and some were running behind the carriage. A prince sat inside with a golden canopy over his head. At once the stone cutter began to be disappointed and discontented with his palace.
“Oh!” he said. “I wish I were a prince with such carriage as that and a golden canopy.”
And just as he made his wish, it came true. He was now a prince; he had servants dressed in purple and gold, and he drove through the streets with his golden canopy. For awhile he was happy, but one day he noticed that the bright sun was drying his grass.
“The sun is mightier than I am. I wish to be the sun.”
the mountain spirit heard him, and the stone cutter was changed to the sun. He felt proud and mighty, so great and yellow in the sky. He burned the fields of both rich and poor. But one day a cloud covered his face. Again he was filled with discontent.
So the mountain spirit changed him into a cloud, and he lay happy for awhile between the sun and the earth. He caught the sunbeams and would not let them go. He sent rain to earth, and the flowers bloomed, and this was not enough for him. He began pouring down rain for days until the rivers overflowed and the crops were spoiled. He washed away whole towns, but one thing he could not move was the mountain above.
“is the mountain stronger than I?” he asked. “Then I will be the mountain.”
At once mountain spirit changed him into rock. For years he stood proudly. He did not feel the sun or the rain. But one day he heard a tap, tapping, and he saw a stone cutter there working with his sharp tools. The stone cutter was cutting into him, the strong mountain. He felt a trembling inside him.
“Who can cut into me? I want to be that Man.”
And he became a man once more, the same poor stone cutter. Once again he lived in a hut and worked from morning to night. Yet he was happier that ever because he had learned it’s the steady tap-tapping that moves mountains.

Wow I love this legend. People always doubt their potential. But they just need to be themselves to be happy. It’s the steady tap-tapping that moves mountains – remember this.
nokoru
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Post by nokoru »

Well, this story sounds like some stories I've read. A person got jealous of what he didn't have and then, made wishes. Not one, but many. He never felt satisfied until he acknowledged that he was really happy with the life and things he had had before.
Sometimes, we should treasure what we are having before we can never have it again.
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