There was once a king of Persia who took delight in doing common things in very uncommon ways.
At one time, he was in need of a man that would always do just what he was told to do; and he took a very strange way to find him.
He sent out word that he wanted a man to work for him in his garden. More than a hundred came; and, from among them, he chose two.
He showed them a large basket in the garden, and told them to fill it with water from the well near by.
After they had begun their work, he left them, saying: "When the sun is down, I shall come and see your work; and, if I find that you have done it well, I shall pay you. "For a little while, the two men carried water and poured it into the basket without thinking much about it.
But, at last, one of them said: "What"s the use of doing this foolish work? We can never fill the basket, for the water runs out of it as fast as we pour it in. ""That is not our care, " said the other man, whose namewas Hassan. "The king has hired us to carry the water, and he must know why he wants it done. And then he has told us that, if we do our work well, we shall be paid for it. What more could we want? ""You may do as you please, " said the first man; "but I am not going to work at anything so foolish, even for pay. "Thereupon, he threw down his bucket and went away.
Hassan said not a word, but kept on carrying water from the well to the basket all day long. At sunset, the well was almost empty.
As he poured the last bucketful into the basket, he saw something in it that was very bright. On picking it up, he found it to be a gold ring that his bucket had dipped up.
"Now I see the use of all this work, " he said. " If the king had told me to empty the well, I should have poured the water on the ground, and the ring might not have been found. "Just then, the king came. As soon as he saw the ring, he knew that he had found the kind of man he wanted.
He told Hassan to keep for himself the ring he had found. "You have done so well in this one little thing, " he said, "that now I know I can trust you with many things. You shall be the first of all my servants. "Author.-The author is not known.
General Notes.-Find Persia on the map. What task did the King set the men? Why? How did one take it? How did the other take it? How was the faithful worker rewarded? What does this teach?