A monarch of
long ago had twin sons. There was some confusion
about which one was born first. As they grew to young
manhood, the king
sought a fair way to designate one of them as
crown prince. All who
knew the young men thought them equal in
intelligence, wit,
personal charm, health, and physical
strength. Being a keenly
observant king, he thought he detected a trait
in one which was not
shared by the other.
Calling them to his council chamber one day, he
said, "My sons, the
day will come when one of you must succeed
me as king. The burdens
of sovereignty are very heavy. To find out which
of you is better
able to bear them cheerfully, I am sending you
together to a far
corner of the kingdom. One of my advisors there
will place equal
burdens on your shoulders. My crown will one day
go to the one who
first returns bearing his burden like a king
should."
In a spirit of friendly competition, the
brothers set out together.
Soon they overtook an aged woman struggling
under a burden that
seemed far too heavy for her frail body. One of
the boys suggested
that they stop to help her. The other protested:
"We have a burden
of our own to worry about. Let us be on our
way."
The objector hurried on while the other stayed
behind to give aid
to the aged woman. Along the road, from day to
day, he found others
who also needed help. A blind man took him miles
out of his way,
and a lame man slowed him to a cripple's walk.
Eventually he did reach his father's advisor,
where he secured his
own burden and started home with it safely on
his shoulders. When
he arrived at the palace, his brother met him at
the gate, and
greeted him with dismay. He said, "I don't
understand. I told our
father the burden was too heavy to carry.
However did you do it?"
The future king replied thoughtfully, "I
suppose when I helped
others carry their burdens, I found the strength
to carry my own."
