A king once went to a master （大师）. He wanted to become more powerful than other ____ kings. He sat in front of the master and started telling him the purpose of his visit. The master listened patiently to the king.
He then told the king to go to the valley where a rose plant and a cypress （柏树） plant were growing side by side. He told the king," They are your teachers. They can teach you what you want to learn."
The king went into the garden, and saw the two plants but could not understand what he could learn from them. He went back to the master and asked," What do you mean, master? I am not able to understand what and how these plants will teach me."
The master took the king to the plants and explained," This cypress plant has been next to the rose plant for so many years. Never once has it wanted to become a rose plant. Similarly. the rose plant has never wanted to become a cypress plant. If man had been the cypress plant, he would have compared himself with the rose and felt jealous （忌妒的） at the attention that the beautiful rose plant was getting from all the people. Or, if man were the rose plant, he would have looked at the cypress plant enviously （羡慕地） thinking how peaceful the plant was without the trouble of being disturbed by people all day! Both of the plants grew very well because they used all their energy for their own growth instead of using it to compete with the other."
