A Chinese story

Diego Rivera "Stone Mason"

The Stone Cutter

There was a stonecutter, who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life.

One day, he passed a wealthy merchant's house, and through the open gateway, saw many fine possesions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stonecutter. He became envious, and wished that he could be like the merchant. Then he would no longer have to be a mere stonecutter.

To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever dreamed of, envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. But soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants, and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, has to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!".

He became the official, carried everywhere in his sedan chair, feared and hated by all around him. It was a hot summer day, and he felt very uncorfotable in the sticky sedan chair. He look up at the sun. It shined proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!".

He became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, until a huge blak cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be that cloud!".

He became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. Pretty soon he found that he was being pushed around by some great force and realised that it was the wind. "How powerful the wind is!" he thought. "I wish I could be the wind!"

Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, hated and feared by all below him. But soon he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how hard he tried. A huge towering stone. "How powerful that stone is!" he thought. "I wish I could be the stone!".

He became the stone, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into him, felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the stone?" he thought. He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stonecutter.