Story Corner: The stone cutter

Once upon a time there lived a stone cutter, in a small village. All day long he worked hard, cutting the hard stones and making the shape which were needed by his customers. His hands stiffened and his clothes were always dirty. One day, the sun was very hot, while he was cracking a big stone; he got tired and sat done in a shade and soon fell asleep. After sometime, he heard sound of footsteps coming towards his direction. When he woke up, he saw a long procession of people. There were many soldiers and attendants and in the middle, was a palanquin, carried by strong people and in it was the king. “How wonderful it must feel to be a great king,” the stone cutter thought. He further said that he would be happy as a king instead of being poor stone cutter. As he said these words, a strange thing happened, the stone cutter‘s clothes turned into silk and shining jewel was rapped around his neck. His hands instantly softened and he was seated in a comfortable palanquin.As he looked through the curtains and thought, how easy it is to be a king; these people are here to serve me. The procession moved on and the sun grew hot. The stone cutter, now the king, became too warm for comfort. He asked the procession to stop so that he could rest for some time. At once the chief of the soldiers bent before the king and said Your Majesty, only this morning you swore to have me hanged to death if we did not reach the palace before the sun set. The stone cutter (currently the king) felt sorry for him and ordered the procession to go on its way again.As the afternoon went on, the sun grew hotter, and the king became more and more uncomfortable. Because of being uncomfortable, he asked if he was not more powerful than the sun. He wished of becoming then sun. At once, he became the sun, shining down on the earth. His new power was hard to control. He shone too strongly, that he burned up the fields with his rays and turned the ocean into vapor and formed a great cloud which covered the land. But no matter how hard he shone, he could not see through the clouds. “It was obvious that the clouds were stronger and more powerful than sun,” said the stone cutter He again wished of turning into a cloud. Suddenly he found himself turned into a huge dark cloud.He started using his new power. He poured rain down on the fields and caused floods. All the trees and houses were swept away but a boulder, which he had been cutting when he was a stone cutter, was unmoved and unchanged. He instantly realized that the rock is more powerful than the cloud. Only a stone cutter could change the rock by his skill. He wished of turning back into a stonecutter. No sooner had he said the words, than he found himself sitting on a stone with hard and rough hands.He picked up his tools and set to work on a boulder, happily. Ends