Bits & Pieces Index

The King and his Three Sons

Once Upon a Time, in a far away country, there lived a King with three sons. One day when the King was very old, he called his sons and told them he would test them to decide which one will be the next king.

He assigned each one a room and told them to fill up the room with something very important.

The eldest son went and looked for diamonds. He was only able to find enough to fill the half the room but he had impoverished the kingdom in his attempt.

The second son filled his room with cotton but it did not impress the king as he too had taken from the people.

The King was disappointed in the materialistic attitude of his sons.

Now the King went to the third Prince. He entered the room, and was surprised to see the entire room empty except for a small candle burning in the centre of the room.

The King was confused and looked at his son for an explanation.

His son explained, "Father, I will work hard towards making my life like this candle. Just as the light of this candle illuminates every corner of this room, I will strive to immerse the entire kingdom in the light of wisdom, love and goodness."

The King felt that he learnt the most important lesson of his life through his youngest son and to the joy of the entire kingdom he crowned him the next King.

Original author unknown, but rewritten by Johan V Campbell