TRUE VALUE -THE GIFT (REVISED by BOST 2026)
All of us at one time or other have come upon these wise
words: “Do not judge a book by its cover.”
Yet in present fast-paced society, one often rushes headlong
into things, making erroneous judgements from offhand, or, ill conceived notions,
then follow the wayward paths that lead one astray. One would fare far better
if cool heads prevailed and instead, one was open-minded and not so heavily reliant
on the first impressions.
Here is a short parable (fable, folktale) that whimsically (quirkily)
though efficaciously illustrates this point.
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| 01-LEON THOMKEN ON EXCAVATION TRIP - JP |
Once upon a time there was a brilliant young geologist named Leon Thomken, a handsome young man with long white, blond hair, and brilliant blue eyes, athletic in built and one with avid (fervent, ardent) thirst for knowledge. Leon, when he was still in his early twenties, had married his childhood sweetheart June, whom he had respected and loved very dearly.
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| 02-LEON THOMKEN MARRIES HIS CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART JUNE- JP |
Their first five years of marriage was a blissful one, though Leon felt increasingly more restless; noting this, June encouraged her husband to pursue his passion. Leon did not need any persuading, he quickly secured three years of paid sabbatical from the University where he’d been a valued professor, and again began his travels far and wide, sometimes, overseeing exciting new geological finds (digs).
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| 03- JUNE GETS SICK WHILE LEON IS AWAY- JP |
Unfortunately, one chilly winter season, while Leon was
away, June had succumbed to fevers and quickly passed away, leaving their
infant son behind for him to care alone. Leon now in his late twenties (twenty-nine)
was devastated and was heartbroken by this terrible loss as her absence had
left a huge void in his life which even his infant son (six-month-old) Kori
could not fill.
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| 04- LEON THOMKEN IS BEREFT-LEFT ALONE WITH HIS INFANT SON.JP |
Subsequently, bereft Leon entrusted the baby to the care of a
competent nanny and resumed with his explorations and geological digs- choosing
now to voyage to different continents, the farthest regions for his quests
(hunts) and, intentionally (purposely) staying away long durations from home.
Returning from one of his routine excavations in high
altitudes (the Himalayas), he had chanced upon an exceedingly rare find, an
innocuous item that was half buried in the riverbank alongside a rushing
turbulent stream.
To the untrained eye, the object resembled a bland ordinary ice
chunk with a slightly pinkish hue, only it was solid as a rock. But Leon having
at once recognized its true value carefully stored it away until he could
acquire a very elaborate box to contain it. Finally, in an old antique shop
five blocks down where he resided, he found precisely what he sought; this
rosewood box had jewels inlaid on its side with brilliant patterns of stars and
constellations carved in gold and silver all the way around it. Inside was
lined with the finest plush, soft burgundy velvet.
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| 05- LEON PUTS HIS PRIZED ROCK IN SPECIAL JEWEL ENCRUSTED BOX- JP |
At the end of his carefree adventurous days, when he was
much older and his age was about mid thirties, by then having grown independently
(wealthy) opulent, Leon decided to settle down and remarry in order to provide
his precious young boy Kori (now four and a half years old) with a more stable environment.
A pretty young widow Serafina Marko, with a single child of her own, appeared
to be the most suitable candidate and so before long they were married in an
elaborate ceremony. Unfortunately, her true nature soon surfaced, and he
discovered their underlying incompatibility.
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| 06- LEON, SERAFINA AND HER DAUGHTER, AND KORI- JP |
Struggling with his inner dissatisfaction over the years
Leon suffered some setbacks and fell on tough times. On the urgings of his
second wife Serafina, he parted with most of his precious possession in order
to keep up with her and her daughter’s prodigal (profligate) spending, social
functions and other such extravagant demands, but always resisted the idea of
selling his rare find.
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| 07- LEON ALLOWS KORI TO HANDLE HIS PRIZE ROCK - JP |
Once on a quiet day alone in his study with his son, who
also shared his interest in rare and unusual rocks, Leon had allowed Kori to
handle (examine, touch) the pinkish stone. “You like it too, don’t you son?” He
had asked affectionately and, with enigmatic bemused smile on his lips before he
reached out to retrieve the item from his son’s palm.
“Yes, papa, I do, it is such an interesting stone. Tell me
again how you found it.” In truth Kori loved the story more than the rock
itself and never got tired of hearing it. His father equally enthused, always
obliged him with such colourful elaboration. This day at the end of his
narration however, his father looked grim and said, “I ‘m sorry you had to
suffer such unwarranted hardships on my account, but I could not bring myself
to part with it. “He looked up earnestly then and said the strangest thing.
“Actually, I have been saving it for you. “With a shrug he then arose and,
after carefully placing it into that beautiful box again, walked over and
promptly placed it in the wall-safe concealed behind an obscure painting
hanging above his desk.
When some years later Leon fell mysteriously ill and died
intestate his holdings and the affairs of the entire estate were bestowed upon
his wife Serafina. She lost no time in selling the property, the land and
everything of value, including the precious box that, by the way, fetched a handsome
price. But as for the lump of stone inside, before selling the box, she’d
simply taken it out and on the verge of throwing it away, after a second
thought, roughly thrust it into the palm of her stepson and said, “Now, don’t
go complaining that I haven’t allotted (given) you any keepsake (token, memento)
from your dear departed, but then she chewed on the words, ‘your good for
nothing’, dad.”
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| 08- SERAFINA GIVES KORI PRESUMED WORTHLESS ROCK AS MOMENTO FROM HIS FATHER |
Kori had remembered well what his father had said that day
long ago, though he had never shared this with anyone. And so, after thanking
her, he graciously accepted this paltry gift from his stepmother Serafina and
happily tucked it away in his pocket.
Predictably, she had next sought to rid herself of the
burden of Kori; therefore, she sent her orphaned stepson packing to a distant
paternal relative. Within a year Serafina was married off to an affluent
merchant and moved to a far away country.
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| 09- KORY AND ACCOUNTANT DANSEN-JP |
The resilient boy Kori, meanwhile, grew up without much incident
(with nothing worth mentioning), in the modest dwelling of his father’s second cousin
Dansen, a confirmed bachelor, a dreary (dull) bearded accountant. Dansen had
inherited from his father an extensive library, who had collected rare, historical,
and geological tomes; he was not an unreasonable uncle and seeing Kori’s keen
interest, allowed his charge to make use of this highly neglected room. Kori
spent his days, overall ignored by Dansen and the household staff, despite his
keen, brilliant mind and affable character traits, reading extensively, sometimes
copying (drawing) images, designs, and inventions onto the pages of his secret,
small book.
One mundane school day, Kori having completed his assigned
composition earlier than the rest of his classmates- to alleviate his boredom, he
had quietly retrieved the rock which he had always carried in his pocket, to again
look at it. As the high-altitude winds whisked away the clouds and allowed the
midday sun’s rays to reach the classroom, therefore struck the object in Kori’s
hand, the unusual, brilliant reflections, enlivened by the rays of the sun, at
once drew the attention of his Geography teacher, who then demanded Kori to
bring forth the object to him.
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| 10- KORI ADMIRES STONE- HIS TEACHER ASKS TO SEE IT-JP |
The rest as they say is history. The piece of rock proved to
be an uncut, priceless pink diamond that fetched a fortune at an auction,
affording the poor little boy comfort and riches beyond anyone’s imaginings.
Fin
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