The Wise Woman's
Stone
A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met
another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler
saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left
rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.
But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. "I've been thinking," he said. "I
know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more
precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone."
Sometimes it is not the wealth you have but what's inside you that others need.
- author unknown
Editor's note: Unfortunately the author of this piece is not known. It is one of those marvelous
little stories that gets passed around the Internet. It is always my intention to acknowledge the source
wherever possible. Since I cannot acknowledge the author I would like to acknowledge one place I
saw this story. It is a site of uplifting stories
and it can be found at http://www.adeepplace.com
