THE SEED OF HONESTY

     A King was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his children, he invited a

group of young people from his kingdom and told them, "It is soon time for me to step down and choose the next king. I have decided to

choose one of you." The children were shocked, but the king continued, "I am going to give each one of you a seed today - one

very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from   this

seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next king."

 One of the boys, named Liang, went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot filled with soil, and he

planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some

of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Liang kept checking his seed, but

nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Liang

didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by   -- still nothing in Liang's pot.

 He knew his seed had died. Everyone else had trees or flowers, but he had nothing. Liang didn't say anything to his friends, he just

kept waiting for his seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the king for

inspection. Liang told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But his mother asked him to be honest about what happened.

Liang felt very uncomfortable, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace. He was amazed at the variety of

plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Liang put his empty pot on the floor and many of

the other children laughed at him.

 When the king arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Liang tried to hide in the back. "My, what great

plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the king. "Today one of you will be appointed the next king!"

 Suddenly the king spotted Liang at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards   to bring him to the front. Liang was

terrified. He thought, "The king knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me punished!"

 When Liang got to the front, the king asked his name. "My name is Liang," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of

him. The king asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Liang, and then announced to the crowd, "The name of your new king is Liang!"

  Liang couldn't believe it. He couldn't even grow his seed, how could he be the new King?

 Then the King said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take   the seed, plant it, water it, and bring

it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds that would not grow. All of you, except Liang, have brought me trees and plants and

flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Liang was the only one with the

courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new king!"

  If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.

                                                                  ...X...