One day, he passed a wealthy merchant's house, and though the open gateway, saw many fine possesions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stonecutter. He become very envious, and wished that he could be like the merchat. Then he would no longer have to live the life of a mere stonecutter.
To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever dreamed of, envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. But soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendents, 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 become the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around, everyone had to bow down before him as he passed. It was a hot summer day and the official felt very uncomfortabe in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his pressence. "How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"
The he became the sun, shinining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the famers and lobourers. But a huge 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 a 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 become the wind, blowing the tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, hated and feared by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against someting that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it- a huge towering stone. "How powerful that stone is!" he thought. "I wish I could be that stone!"
Then he become the stone, more powerful than anything else on the earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the solid rock and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the stone?" he thought. He looked down and far below him the figure of a stonecutter.
I borrowed this Story from one of my favorite books "The Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff.
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