Grain and farmers

Leo Tolstoy is remembered for his major narratives as well as mini parables. One parable, as I remember, revolves around a grain. I wish to present it as a tribute to him.

Some children were playing in a valley. Suddenly one child picked an oval shaped large grain. Whether it was a seed or any other round object, they did not know. A passer by saw all these and inquired what is it all about. He wanted to buy the grain from the children to present it to the king. He was ready to pay any amount to the children too.

The passer by took the grain to the king.

"Your Majesty I wish to present this round object."

The king examined it carefully. "What is the round object? Is it an egg or a grain?" He asked his wise men of the royal court. The wise men too examined the object and could not make head or tail of it.

"I want to know what this is," King insisted.

So the wise men sent a messenger with a message to request any person to appear before the king and reveal anything about the object. Guessing the round object as a grain on old man, a farmer, came to the palace.

The old farmer walked on crutches. He was also half deaf, and saw things with great difficulty. He somehow appeared before the king.

"Father, tell me whether you know anything about this. If it is a grain where and when did you grow it?"

Old man kept looking at the object for a long time and said:

"Your Majesty, I have never seen any grain like this in my lifetime. But I am sure my father can tell you something. What I have seen is much smaller than this grain."

So it happened. The father of the old man appeared before the king. Strangely the father looked healthier and stronger than the son. His sight and hearing too were better. He examined the round object and said:

"Your Majesty I am not sure about this. I have not sown any grain like this in any field. But I am pretty sure my father will have something to say about this."

Now the king was surprised to hear that. Even this old man has his father, alive! He wanted to see the old man immediately.

Quite amazingly the oldest man looked the healthiest and the strongest. He walked easily and stood steadfast. King's surprise had no end. He could not wait to hear the oldest man's version.

And the old farmer smiled:

"I'm simply surprised to see this grain once again Your Majesty. We used to sow grains like this in our times."

The old man's eyes sparkled as he spoke with joy. Then he bit a piece off the grain and chewed happily.

"Grandfather," said the king, "tell me everything you know about it."

"We didn't buy this grain for money, Your Majesty. The grain was freely available for anyone to sow."

"Where did you have your fields?" King asked.

The old man smilingly said: "All the fields during our time belonged to all of us. We got together and cultivated.

"We thought the harvest belonged to all of us. We had no reason to fight with each other. So we didn't. We were the people of the god. Our fields were known as the god's fields."

"And you are a lot healthier and stronger than your son and the grandson, I take it." King expressed his surprise.

"It's a simple thing, Your Majesty. We did not have any ill will towards each other. But things are different today. We worked hard. We were happy and content. We loved each other."

King was happy hearing those words of inspiration. "Go on, grandfather, I'm listening."

"I have hardly anything else to say, Your Majesty. We need to go find our lost self once again."

That was the moment of illumination in the whole palace, the wise men and the king realized.