Diligence

Tact beats tough all day (A folktale)

Once upon a time, in the animal kingdom, the Lion wished to give his daughter’s hand in marriage. Being king of all the animals, the Lion thought in his mind what would be the best way to decide the right spouse for his daughter.

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A Tough Task

After many days of thinking, he came up with an idea which he believed would enable him select the best suitor, not only in terms of physical strength, but more importantly, in wisdom and tact.

The Lion sent out the kingdom’s town crier, the Parrot, to summon all the members of his kingdom to his palace. When they had all gathered, the king stood and addressed them saying:

“In four market days, we shall all gather here again, and I will give my daughter’s hand in marriage to the suitor who can pass the test I am about to set.
“The test is that the would-be successful candidate must drink from a pot of very hot water that had just been removed from the fire.”

As the animals returned to their homes, they wondered how anyone could drink hot water without burning his throat.
Good thinking, good idea.

The tortoise is the wisest of all the animals in the kingdom, and he is also the most cunning. He spent several hours thinking about the task that the king had set. And suddenly a brilliant idea struck him.

On the agreed day, all the animals reconvened at the king’s palace, and everybody was surprised to see the Tortoise dressed in his most beautiful and regal attire. He went from one animal to the other, greeting each and every one of them, and acknowledging greetings from them.

When the time came for the test to begin, the king called out and said, “who amongst you is brave enough to take the test and win my daughter’s hand in marriage?”

After several minutes and nobody summoned enough courage to take the test, the Tortoise stood up and walked to the throne and said he was ready to take the test.

A pot of boiling water was brought out and from it, hot water was poured into a gourd and given to the tortoise to drink.
Brilliant execution.

The tortoise took the gourd and approached the king and said, “confirm, your majesty, that this is indeed a gourd of very hot water”. The King said, “I confirm.” Then the tortoise moved to the queen and asked the same question.

And one after another, the tortoise approached all the elders of the kingdom, asking each of them to confirm that it was indeed hot water that had been poured out for him to drink, and each responded, “I confirm”.

Being a very slow animal, by the time the tortoise had moved from one animal to the other, the water in the gourd had considerably cooled, and the tortoise eventually drank the not-so-hot water in the full glare of all the animals, amidst wild cheers and celebration.

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The Great Reward
Having successfully executed the task, the Tortoise returned and stood before the Lion, who rose up, took his daughter’s hand and handed her over to her husband, the tortoise.

And so it was that in a kingdom where there were many strong animals like the Leopard, the Tiger, the Cheetah, and many big animals such as the Elephant, the Rhino, and the Buffalo, it was the small, slow, ‘ugly’ but wise Tortoise that won the test to become the king’s son-in-law.

The Lesson
When one is faced with a very difficult task, one should remain calm, brainstorm, think outside the box, and surely, solutions will be found.

This is my achievement 1/ introduction post. Glance through to learn more about me. Thank you for reading.

Achievement 1 Post