Fable: The Two Angels

Once in heaven, there were two angels. One, who had been there for a long time, was called the "Great Angel," while the other, who had recently arrived, was referred to as the "Small Angel." One day, the Small Angel looked down at the human world and saw the mansion of a wealthy man, a mansion so enormous it had 20 rooms, not including many other additional rooms.

Desiring to visit the human world, the Small Angel invited the Great Angel to accompany him. Both angels transformed into elderly men and knocked on the wealthy man's door. They asked, "May we stay at your house tonight?" The wealthy man replied, "I have no spare rooms left. If you wish to stay, you may sleep in the underground room, but there's no food left except for scraps." The angels went to the underground room and found it narrow, damp, filled with dripping water, and the walls were cracked as if it were about to collapse. The Small Angel felt angrier at how they were treated. They decided to sleep there. When it became dark, they awoke to find that the Great Angel was repairing the cracked walls of the room. The Small Angel wondered why the Great Angel would help someone who had treated them so poorly but did not say anything.

Another day, they sought shelter from a poor old man. He had only one old shed and a single cow, along with two earthenware pots. When they asked for a place to stay, the old man allowed the two angels to sleep in the shed, while he slept outside with the cow, and he even offered his two pots to them. Despite feeling full from not eating anything, the old man said he was satisfied.

Later that night, a storm came, and lightning struck, killing the old man's cow. The Small Angel questioned the Great Angel as to why they did not help the old man, who had shown kindness to them, but instead, they helped repair the mansion of the unkind wealthy man.

Upon returning to heaven, the Small Angel hurried to the records room to understand what had happened. Upon reviewing the records, they found that the wealthy man, hidden behind the walls, held much more wealth than previously known. The repair of the wall was to reveal the hidden fortune to those deserving. The Great Angel had prevented the wealthy man from gaining even greater riches.

As for the old man who lost his cow, he had made a contract with heaven to live only up to the age of sixty. That night, heaven struck down the cow instead of the old man, granting him an additional twenty years of life.

This tale teaches us that sometimes the results of our actions or what we perceive as unfortunate events might lead to something even more significant that should have happened but was averted. It reminds us that some opportunities we have missed might have been for the best. As the saying goes, "We reap what we sow." If we cultivate diligence, patience, learning, and earnest efforts every day, we will reap the tree of success. Conversely, if we plant seeds of impatience, lack of dedication, disbelief, laziness, ignorance, and fail to earnestly act, we will yield the tree of failure.