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| The
Parable of the Marbles |
Once upon a time, there was a foolish boy who had a bag
full of beautiful marbles. Now this boy was quite proud
of his marbles. In fact, he thought so much of them that
he would neither play with them himself nor would he let
anyone else play with them. He only took them out of the
bag in order to count and admire them; they were never
used for their intended purpose. Yet that boy carried
that coveted bag of marbles everywhere he went.
Well, there was also a wise boy who wished he could have
such a fine bag of marbles. So this boy worked hard and
earned money to purchase a nice bag to hold marbles. Even
though he had not yet earned enough with which to purchase
any marbles, he had faith and purchased the marble bag.
He took special care of the bag and dreamed of the day it
would contain marbles with which he could play and share
with his friends.
Alas, the foolish boy with all of the marbles didn't take
care of the marble bag itself, and one day the bag
developed a hole in the bottom seam. Still, he paid no
attention and, one by one, the marbles fell out of the
bag.
It didn't take long, once the foolish boy's marble bag
developed a hole, for the wise boy to begin to find
those beautiful marbles, one at a time, lying unnoticed
on the ground. And, one by one, he added them to his
marble bag. The wise boy thus gained a fine bag full
of marbles in no time at all. This boy played with the
marbles and shared them with all of his friends. And he
always took special care of the bag so he wouldn't lose
any.
And what about the foolish boy? Because he was selfish
and careless, he lost all of his marbles and was left
holding the bag. |
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