Long ago there was a rich man
with a disease in his eyes. For many years, the pain
was so great that he could not sleep at night. He saw
every doctor he could, but none of them could help
him.
"What good is all my
money?" he groaned. Finally, he became so
desperate that he sent criers through the city
offering a reward to anyone who could cure him.
Now in that city lived an old
candy peddler. He would walk around with his baskets
of candy, but he was so kind-hearted that he gave
away as much as he sold, so he was always poor.
When the old peddler heard the
announcement, he remembered something his mother had
said. She had once told him about a magical herb that
was good for the eyes. So he packed up his baskets
and went back to the single tiny room in which his
family lived.
When he told his plan to his
wife, she scolded him, "If you go off on this
crazy hunt, how are we supposed to eat?"
Usually the peddler gave in to
his wife, but this time he was stubborn. "There
are two baskets of candy," he said. "I'll
be back before they're gone."
The next morning, as soon as the
soldiers opened the gates, he was the first one to
leave the city. He did not stop until he was deep
inside the woods. As a boy, he had often wandered
there. He had liked to pretend that the shadowy
forest was a green sea and he was a fish slipping
through the cool waters.
As he examined the ground, he
noticed ants scurrying about. On their backs were
larvae like white grains of rice. A rock had fallen
into a stream, so the water now spilled into the
ant's nest.
"We're all one," the
kind-hearted peddler said. So he waded into the
shallow stream and put the rock on the bank. Then
with a sharp stick, he dug a shallow ditch that sent
the rest of the water back into the stream.
Without another thought about
his good deed, he began to search through the forest.
He looked everywhere; but as the day went on, he grew
sleepy. "Ho-hum. I got up too early. I'll take
just a short nap," he decided, and lay down in
the shade of an old tree, where he fell right asleep.
In his dreams, the old peddler
found himself standing in the middle of a great city.
Tall buildings rose high overhead. He couldn't see
the sky even when he tilted back his head. An escort
of soldiers marched up to him with a loud clatter of
their black lacquer armor. "Our queen wishes to
see you," the captain said.
The frightened peddler could
only obey and let the fierce soldiers lead him into a
shining palace. There, a woman with a high crown sat
upon a tall throne. Trembling, the old peddler fell
to his knees and touched his forehead against the
floor.
But the queen ordered him to
stand. "Like the great Emperor Yu of long ago,
you tamed the great flood. We are all one now. You
have only to ask, and I or any of my people will come
to your aid."
The old peddler cleared his
throat. "I am looking for a certain herb. It
will cure any disease of the eyes."
The queen shook her head
regretfully. "I have never heard of that herb.
But you will surely find it if you keep looking for
it."
And then the old peddler woke.
Sitting up, he saw that in his wanderings he had come
back to the ants' nest. It was there he had taken his
nap. His dream city had been the ant's nest itself.
"This is a good omen,"
he said to himself, and he began searching even
harder. He was so determined to find the herb that he
did not notice how time had passed. He was surprised
when he saw how the light was fading. He looked all
around then. There was no sight of his city -- only
strange hills. He realized then that he had searched
so far he had gotten lost.
Night was coming fast and with
it the cold. He rubbed his arms and hunted for
shelter. In the twilight, he thought he could see the
green tiles of a roof.
He stumbled through the growing
darkness until he reached a ruined temple. Weeds grew
through cracks in the stones and most of the roof
itself had fallen in. Still, the ruins would provide
some protection.
As he started inside, he saw a
centipede with bright orange skin and red tufts of
fur along its back. Yellow dots covered its sides
like a dozen tiny eyes. It was also rushing into the
temple as fast as it could, but there was a bird
swooping down toward it.
The old peddler waved his arms
and shouted, scaring the bird away. Then he put down
his palm in front of the insect. "We are all
one, you and I." The many feet tickled his skin
as the centipede climbed onto his hand.
Inside the temple, he gathered
dried leaves and found old sticks of wood and soon he
had a fire going. The peddler even picked some fresh
leaves for the centipede from a bush near the temple
doorway. "I may have to go hungry, but you don't
have to, friend."
Stretching out beside the fire,
the old peddler pillowed his head on his arms. He was
so tired that he soon fell asleep, but even in his
sleep he dreamed he was still searching in the woods.
Suddenly he thought he heard footsteps near his head.
He woke instantly and looked about, but he only saw
the brightly colored centipede.
"Was it you, friend?"
The old peddler chuckled and, lying down, he closed
his eyes again. "I must be getting
nervous."
"We are one, you and
I," a voice said faintly -- as if from a long
distance. "If you go south, you will find a pine
tree with two trunks. By its roots, you will find a
magic bead. A cousin of mine spat on it years ago.
Dissolve that bead in wine and tell the rich man to
drink it if he wants to heal his eyes."
The old peddler trembled when he
heard the voice, because he realized that the
centipede was magical. He wanted to run from the
temple, but he couldn't even get up. It was as if he
were glued to the floor.
But then the old peddler
reasoned with himself: If the centipede had wanted to
hurt me, it could have long ago. Instead, it seems to
want to help me.
So the old peddler stayed where
he was, but he did not dare open his eyes. When the
first sunlight fell through the roof, he raised one
eyelid cautiously. There was no sign of the
centipede. He sat up and looked around, but the
magical centipede was gone.
He followed the centipede's
instructions when he left the temple. Traveling
south, he kept a sharp eye out for the pine tree with
two trunks. He walked until late in the afternoon,
but all he saw were normal pine trees. Wearily he sat
down and sighed. Even if he found the pine tree, he
couldn't be sure that he would find the bead. Someone
else might even have discovered it a long time ago.
But something made him look a
little longer. Just when he was thinking about
turning back, he saw the odd tree. Somehow his tired
legs managed to carry him over to the tree, and he
got down on his knees. But the ground was covered
with pine needles and his old eyes were too weak. The
old peddler could have wept with frustration, and
then he remembered the ants.
He began to call, "Ants,
ants, we are all one."
Almost immediately, thousands of
ants came boiling out of nowhere. Delighted, the old
man held up his fingers. "I'm looking for a
bead. It might be very tiny."
Then, careful not to crush any
of his little helpers, the old man sat down to wait.
In no time, the ants reappeared with a tiny bead.
With trembling fingers, the old man took the bead
from them and examined it. It was colored orange and
looked as if it had yellow eyes on the sides.
There was nothing very special
about the bead, but the old peddler treated it like a
fine jewel. Putting the bead into his pouch, the old
peddler bowed his head. "I thank you and I thank
your queen," the old man said. After the ants
disappeared among the pine needles, he made his way
out of the woods.
The next day, he reached the
house of the rich man. However, he was so poor and
ragged that the gatekeeper only laughed at him.
"How could an old beggar like you help my
master?"
The old peddler tried to argue.
"Beggar or rich man, we are all one."
But it so happened that the rich
man was passing by the gates. He went over to the old
peddler. "I said anyone could see me. But it'll
mean a stick across your back if you're wasting my
time."
The old peddler took out the
pouch. "Dissolve this bead in some wine and
drink it down." Then, turning the pouch upside
down, he shook the tiny bead onto his palm and handed
it to the rich man.
The rich man immediately called
for a cup of wine. Dropping the bead into the wine,
he waited a moment and then drank it down. Instantly
the pain vanished. Shortly after that, his eyes
healed.
The rich man was so happy and
grateful that he doubled the reward. And the kindly
old peddler and his family lived comfortably for the
rest of their lives.
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