Seeing the Light - the story for the time of darkness

Zdjęcie własne / Kapliczka w drodze na na Łysice przy źródełku Świętego Franciszka - Święta Katarzyna, 2023

As our hemisphere is about to experience half a year of darkness, it's time for a story full of light. I heard it from an English storyteller many, many years ago. As I was looking for the origins if this tale in the Internet, I came across a lot of versions. In some of them, there is an old farmer with three sons. In the other, there is just a wealthy man, who through his wisdom and hard work had managed to save a fortune. In my story, there is a king. Listen ....      

Many years ago in India there lived a King who had two sons. Both boys were tall and strong, and the King wondered which of his two princes would be best to rule the kingdom when he died. They were both skilled with the sword. Each could shoot an arrow and ride a horse.

The King could not make up his mind which of the sons should be chosen. Both were brave and strong, but which of the princes was the wisest? The King decided to give them a test to find out.

Late one evening, when the work was done, he sent for the two boys and said to them:

 ‘Tomorrow, my sons, in the early morning before the sun has risen, I want you to go to the market and buy something that will

fill this great hall.’ Then he gave each boy a small silver coin. 

‘This is a test,’ said the King, ‘to see which of you is wise enough to rule my kingdom when I am gone.’ With that he said goodnight, and the boys were left wondering how they could buy something with one small coin that would fill the great hall.

The next morning the princes rose early and made their way to market looking for something to buy. It was crowded even at that early hour, with plenty of things for sale. The first prince looked at the great bags of rice, but a sackful cost more than one coin. He saw piles of fruit, but they too were expensive, and bags of wool, salt, sugar and spice, but one coin would not buy nearly enough to fill his father’s hall.

At last, as evening shadows began to fall, he found a stall piled high with straw. ‘That will be cheap and light to carry,’ he thought. So with the one coin he had, he bought as much straw as he could carry. 

But he found the straw was not nearly enough to fill the hall, it only covered the floor.

When the sun had set his younger brother returned. He too had spent the day searching the market with his one copper coin, but he had found something that would fill the great hall. It was a candle. He placed it carefully in the middle of the hall and lit it. 

The flame from the candle shone through the darkness and filled the great hall with light. When his father saw the light he was pleased. 

‘You are wise, my son,’ he said, ‘and you have shown me you are fit to rule the kingdom.’

You can light up the world around. You know that it costs almost nothing.

P.S. And remember what Robert Alden said:

"There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle."