"Who are those men, and why do their faces look so joyless?" asked the
prince. "What are they doing by the roadside?"
"They are poor men, and they are working to improve the king's
highway," was the answer.
"Poor men? What does that mean?"
"Most of the people in the world are poor," said the coachman. "Their
lives are spent in toiling for the rich. Their joys are few; their
sorrows are many."
"And is this the great, beautiful, happy world that I have been told
about?" cried the prince. "How weak and foolish I have been to live
in idleness and ease while there is so much sadness and trouble around
me. Turn the carriage quickly, coachman, and drive home. Henceforth,
I will never again seek my own pleasure. I will spend all my life, and
give all that I have, to lessen the distress and sorrow with which
this world seems filled."
This the prince did. One night he left the beautiful palace which his
father had given to him and went out into the world to do good and to
help his fellow men. And to this day, millions of people remember and
honor the name of Gautama, as that of the great lover of men.
THE CHARCOAL MAN AND THE KING
There once lived in Paris a poor charcoal man whose name was Jacquot.
Pages:
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136