The Old Man and The Bamboo Seed - 500 Words
In a small village at the edge of a forest, lived an old man of eighty. He was known as the wisest man in the village, not because he had much money, but because he never worried.
One day his twelve-year-old grandson came to him, crying. His school exam had failed. His friends laughed at him. He said, "Grandpa, I work so hard but nothing happens. I want to quit."
The old man smiled. He went inside his hut and came out with two small seeds in his wrinkled palm.
"Son, this is a fern seed. And this is a Chinese bamboo seed. Take them. Plant them both in the backyard. Water them every day. And come back to me after one year."
The boy did not understand, but he obeyed.
He dug two pits side by side. He planted both seeds. He poured water.
After seven days, a tiny green shoot came from the fern seed. The boy jumped with joy.
Bamboo - nothing.
After fourteen days, the fern had opened its leaves. Soft, beautiful, green.
Bamboo - still empty earth.
After one month, the fern was a small bush. The boy sat beside it and felt proud.
Bamboo - still nothing.
Three months passed. The fern was now big, lush, covering the corner of the garden. Everyone who came praised it.
The bamboo pit looked dead.
The boy ran to his grandpa. "Grandpa, you gave me a dead seed! Fern has grown so beautiful, bamboo is nothing. I failed again."
The old man put his hand on his head and said, "Do not dig it up. Keep watering. Some things take time."
The boy listened. He continued to water the empty ground, even though he felt foolish.
One year passed. Fern was fully grown. Bamboo - not a single leaf.
Second year started. Boy still watered daily. His friends came and laughed. "You are watering empty soil! Are you mad?" He felt ashamed, but grandpa's words stopped him from quitting.
Second year ended. No bamboo.
Third year - same. Nothing. The boy now watered with tears. He wanted to give up. His heart said, this will never grow.
Grandpa said, "When you see nothing on top, something is happening at the bottom."
Fourth year - still nothing. This was the hardest year. Everyone said the old man fooled him. Even the boy thought, maybe I wasted four years of my life.
But he continued.
Then came the fifth year.
In the fifth spring, one morning, a tiny pointed shoot pushed out of the ground. Smaller than fern. Boy did not even notice.
Next day, it was one foot tall.
Third day, three feet.
The boy was shocked. He called grandpa.
Grandpa said, "Now watch."
Within one week, it was ten feet.
Within three weeks, it was forty feet.
Within six weeks, it was ninety feet tall - taller than his house, taller than any tree in the village. Its strong stem swayed in wind but never broke.
The boy's mouth was open. "Grandpa! Four years nothing! And ninety feet in six weeks? How?"
The old man sat under that bamboo tree and said, "My son, for four years, bamboo was not sleeping. It was growing roots underground. Deep, wide, hundreds of feet. It was making a foundation. If it had grown ninety feet in first year without roots, first wind would have destroyed it."
"Fern grows fast, but its roots are shallow. One strong wind, fern is gone. Bamboo takes five years, but stands for hundred years."
"Your life is bamboo. God is not punishing you. He is making your roots deep. Your exam failure, your loneliness, your hard work with no result - all these are roots. So that when you rise, no one can bring you down."
The boy cried and hugged his grandpa. From that day, he never compared his life with others.
So my dear friend, if you are in your third or fourth year, where you are watering empty soil and people are laughing - do not quit. Your ninety feet growth is waiting. Keep watering.
