In ancient times, there was a king who loved flowers, His palace was always decorated with beautiful orchids (兰花) and other flowers. As the king grew older, he knew that one day he would have to give up his throne (王位). So he had to find someone to rule the country.
The other day, the king had an idea. He asked his servants to travel to every part of the country and give every citizen a single orchid seed (种子), He then announced that the person who grew the most beautiful orchid would take his throne.
Everyone in the country then got their own seed. One young man named David was especially excited about the news, because he had experience in growing flowers himself.
David planted his seed in a pot and put it in a place where it would get lots of sunlight. He watched it carefully every day. But as hard as he tried, his flower simply would not grow.
Finally, it was time for everyone to give their flowers to the king. David took his empty pot to the palace. "Your Majesty (尊敬的陛下), I am sorry to say that I could not grow an orchid, But I hope you can see that I tried my best," he said.
The king was moved by David's honesty. Although he did not choose David as the new king, he gave David a job as a royal court judge (法官).He believed that David's honesty would make him the right person to make sure the justice (公正) in the country.
