Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho

The famous Persian poet Rumi tells us that one day, in a village in the north of what is now Iran, there appeared a man who told marvelous stories about a tree whose fruit made whoever ate of it immortal.

The news soon reached the ears of the king, but before he could ask the exact location of the such a prodigy of nature, the traveler had already departed.

Nonetheless, the king was determined to become immortal, for he wanted to have enough time to turn his kingdom into an example for all the peoples of the world. When he was a young man he had dreamed of making poverty disappear, teaching justice, feeding every single one of his subjects, but soon realized that this was the work of more than one generation. Still, life had given him a chance and he was not going to let it slip through his fingers. He called the bravest man in his court and entrusted him to find the tree.

The man left the following day carrying enough money to obtain information, food and all that was necessary to attain his objective. He traveled through many towns and over plains and mountains, asking questions and offering rewards. The honest people told him that such a tree did not exist; the cynics treated him with ironic respect, and some crooks sent him off to remote places just to get some coins for their information.

After many disappointments, the man decided to give up his search.

Although he admired his sovereign immensely, he would return empty-handed. He realized that this meant he would lose his honor, but he was tired and convince that such a tree did not exist.

The rest of this story will be posted here tomorrow

Welcome to Share with Friends – Free Texts for a Free Internet