Elevation of Life

WISDOM OF THE SON

Sam and Charlie, the two siblings in the 17th century were the sons of a very renowned, humble, kind and honest king.The king was reining the province for 15 years but now, with the increase in time, he grew a bit old. So, he thought of selecting the next king between his boys, following the tradition.Sam, the one who was quite sincere was two years younger than Charlie. Yet they had no such difference between them. Both of them could perform an assigned task equally. But their strategies of doing a job were totally different. They were as naïve as their father which made the king ponder to decide and declare one of them the king of the palace.One day the king called one of his ministers into his courtyard and said, "Dear minister, with advancement in age, I am unable to sit anymore on the throne to manage the kingdom and provide justice to everyone." The minister heard and nodded his head."Following the inheritance rule," said the King "I have to make one of my sons sit here.""My lord", the voice of the minister interrupted the king, "but first you have to put them to a test to check their wisdom." The king agreed to his suggestions. Both of them conversed so long and found a great idea. The king thought of testing the boys."Call both of my sons" ordered the king to another minister energetically. The minister bowed and went to call the boys. He went separately at the doors of each of them to give the message.Sam and Charlie together came to the courtyard and bowed saying, "Your Highness sir!""Welcome boys!" said the king "you both are being called here for one of you have to prove yourself the best. The best to sit on the throne and look after the kingdom. A task will be assigned to both of you. (a pause) Complete according to your wisdom......, to your wisdom. The king then gave each of them a silver shilling and said "you have the whole day. Think, re-think and then again think," he said as if he was trying to make it a riddle. "Till dusk you must surprise me with a great present which must impress me to pass-on my crown and the throne to one of you," he said grinning.A few ministered mocked the King in their heads. They all knew it's easy to get king a present of his choice and impress him. After all, being his son, they would be familiar with the choices of the king.Some people in the courtyard were lost in their own musings. Some thought, a bunch of beautiful Petunias would work as wonders. Whereas, others thought of getting a beautiful horse, which was the other thing, the king was fond of."Eh! Remember boys the material shouldn't cost more than the shilling you are provided," mentioned the king and wished his best to the boys with an adorable smile.Both the siblings took their different route and went out of the courtyard.Charlie went to the market situated in the heart of the town and started wandering from shop to shop.Though, they both knew what could impress the king, yet they were perplexed since it was a competition and none of them could make out what the other one was up to.It was noon, soon. And none of them could decide what to purchase.They were in a situation where even a simple thing seemed so complex. But, just because the question sounded very simple doesn't mean it would indeed be.Charlie found a vendor selling some beautiful precious stones. He was fascinated by them and purchased it at the very moment. He had the privilege of being a prince of such a famous king which helped him get more than one stone.By the time Sam had reached the outskirt of the city in search of a gift. He found the situation of that place very pathetic. For a while he thought he wouldn't get a precious thing there, which made him feel anxious for he hadn't decided what to purchase as yet. Then he noticed, all the people of that area were staring at him as he was resembled very different from them. People of that area had only heard about such characters in the fascinating stories, but it was for the first time in their entire life seeing a person with so much of luxuries.Most of the people were suffering from malnutrition. Sam felt pity for them.Finally, the time approached to dusk. Both the sons had reached the kingdom but Sam was empty handed.As Charlie was elder, the king first asked him to present his gift. He unwrapped the beautiful stones and all the kingdom was in awe of. But the king was expressionless.Then, it was the turn of the other son. Sam whispered something in the ear of a minister standing nearby.A couple of minutes later, several ministers entered with delicious food. The aroma of the food made everyone hungry. Everybody thought it was the favorite dishes of the king.From the other door, a huge crowd entered the courtyard, which left the people in confusion.Sam made everyone sit and started serving them food. He explained everything about those people he found in the village on the outskirt of the city.All the people were eating with great fervor. It was luck for them to even have a full meal. Here, they got not only full meal but also several delicious dishes, for which they were feeling overwhelmed and thankful to their fate and the God.The entire courtyard was overwhelmed to see the kind nature of Sam."What else can impress a king other than seeing the people of his province happy!" said the king with tears of happiness in his eyes.The king appreciated him a lot. The whole kingdom applauded him. They were surprised to see his wisdom.As the words given by the king, Sam was declared the next king of the kingdom with the beautiful crown on the splendid throne."And being the next king you must even help the people of unrecognized areas as you did now," said the king hugging Sam.Even Charlie was glad to see so.