The Flower

The Flower

One morning, a man was walking in a lovely grassy field, when he chanced upon two beautiful flowers. They had just reached their peak of excellence, and were perfect in every way. A more handsome set of flowers could not be imagined.

"What a magnificent flower!" he said, selecting the left one and holding it to his nose. He smiled as he looked at it. However, his smile soon began to fade, for he did not understand why the flower was so beautiful. He simply could not enjoy something if he did not understand why it was what it was.

"I must investigate," he said. He began to examine the flower. He looked under the leaves and between the petals. But he could not understand why it was so amazingly beautiful. So he began to tear the petals off, one by one, trying to see if there was some secret hidden beneath them.

Finally, he looked at his hands. They were filled with torn petals.

"Well then," he said. "All flowers are are nothing but ugly torn petals, as I have seen." He shook the petals from his hands and walked away, for flowers no longer held any beauty for him.

A second man came walking shortly after the first had gone. He spied the remaining flower. It was still as pulchritudinous as it had been when the first man walked by.

"What a magnificent flower!" said the second man. He picked the remaining flower and held it to his nose. He smiled as he looked at it, for it was so amazingly beautiful. Then he put the flower in his pocket and kept it with him always, and it never lost its beauty.