The Emperors Seed’s
Taken from the guide magazine stories
A story about how honesty always wins
Once there was an emperor in eastern Asia who was growing old and knew the time was coming to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his own children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, “It has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor.
“I have decided to choose one of you.” The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!”
There was one boy named Ling who was there that day, and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. By now others were talking about their plants, but Ling didn’t have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Ling didn’t say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed
to grow.
A year finally went by, and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection.
stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace.
When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths. They were beauti ful –in all shapes and sizes. When the emperor arrives, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “What great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today one of you will be appointed the next emperor!”
All of a sudden the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. “The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!” When Ling got to the front, the emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!”
Ling couldn’t believe it. How could he be the new emperor?
Then the emperor said, “One year ago today I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!”
— Taken from More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks, by Wayne Rice. Copyright 1995 by Youth Specialties, Inc. Used by permission of the Zondervan Corporation.
