Once upon a time, a king dressed up and went to a local village. He placed a large stone in the middle of the main road and hid gold coins under the stone. Then he hid behind a huge tree and watched.
The first person down the street was a milkman with his cart (小车) . He crashed (相撞) into the stone and the milk spread all over the ground. "What fool put this stone here?" he shouted. He picked himself up and angrily went away.
After a while, a group of women came along, each balancing a pot of water on her head. One woman tripped over (绊倒) the stone and her water pot went crashing to the ground. She picked herself up and walked away in tears. Neither she nor her friends thought about moving the stone out of the road.
The king watched all day as many people complained about the stone, but he found nobody was willing to move it. The king wondered, "Is there no one in this village who feels any responsibility (责任) to keep their neighbors from harm (伤害) "
Just then, the king saw a young girl coming along. She was the daughter of a local farmer. She had been working all day and was very tired. But when she saw the stone, she said to herself, "This stone is a danger to anyone who comes down the road after dark. I'll move it out of the way. "
After a great deal of effort, the girl finally succeeded in moving the stone to the side of the road. Imagine her surprise when she saw the gold coins where the stone had been!
Just then, the king stepped out from behind the tree. "Oh sir, "the girl said. "Is this gold yours? If not, we surely must find the owner, for he will certainly miss it. "
The king said. "My dear, the gold is mine, but now the gold is yours, because you are the only person who has learnt the lesson I want to teach my people. Nothing good can come to a nation whose people only complain and expect others to solve their problems. "
