The Parable of the Pear Seed--Spoken Word Given By Lloyd D. Newell

The Parable of the Pear Seed

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

The wise observation of human behavior is a trademark of the Chinese culture, its history and people. For more than 3,000 years of recorded history, the Chinese have shared great wisdom through beloved folktales and proverbs. One Chinese folktale recounts the misfortune of a poor man who was so hungry that he stole a pear. He ate the pear as quickly as possible, but not before he was arrested and put in jail. Behind bars, the man finished eating the pear, all the way down to the last seed, which he carefully saved. Days and months passed while the man awaited his trial. At last, he devised a plan. He asked the guard if he could present the emperor with a rare gift. The guard consented, and the man offered his pear seed to the emperor. The poor man said that it would produce pears made of pure gold, but only if the one who planted it had never lied, cheated, or stolen anything. The seed was of no use to him, a common thief, but perhaps the emperor could plant it. His majesty thought for a minute and declined. The poor man then offered the seed to the prime minister, who likewise had his conscience pricked and refused to plant the seed. Next he offered it to the commander of the royal army, the chief magistrate, the chief warden—all the way down to the lowest page in the emperor’s court. No one would plant the seed because no one had a completely clear conscience. They now saw the poor man in a new light and decided to set him free.¹ At some point in life, we realize that mercy and justice are not incompatible. Without condoning others’ misdeeds and shortcomings, we can choose not to dwell on them—and instead try to correct our own. When we mercifully look for the good in others and choose to define them by their virtues and not their faults, we build bonds of love that can unite the human family. Program #4071 1 See Robert Wyndham, Tales the People Tell in China (1973), 20–24.