The best gift
Parables and Illustrations for Values Education |
You little give when you give your possessions. It is when you, when really give you rules.
Khalil Gibran
There was once a wise and beloved King who was much interested in its people and only wanted the best for him. People knew that the King had personal interest in their affairs and trying to understand how their decisions - the King - affected them. Periodically the monarch disguised is and walked the streets with the intention of looking at life from the perspective of them.
One day he disguised himself as a poor villager and visited the public baths. There were many people who enjoyed the companionship and relaxation. In a boiler in the basement they heated water for the baths, and a man was responsible for maintaining it at a pleasant temperature. The King turned to the basement to visit the person who tirelessly watched the fire.
Both shared a meal and the King offered his friendship to this lonely man. Day after day, week after week, the King visited commissioned to monitor the fire. The man in the basement immediately sympathized with the strange visitor, because it came down to the basement where he was. No one else had shown much interest or concern about it.
One day the King revealed his true identity to his friend. It was a risky move, which feared that the man asked special favors or a gift. On the other hand, the new friend of the King looked at him in the eyes and said: "you left your comfortable Palace to visit me in this hot and dirty basement. You ate my little food and you showed genuine interest in what happens to me. Perhaps other people have given them expensive gifts, but to me gave me the best gift of all. Gave me the regajo of yourself"