The Little Princess and the Lotus Flower

A long, long time ago in a very beautiful country on the top of a
lush green hill overlooking a small and colorful town, there was a
sparkling white castle.

In the castle lived the lovely Little Princess.

The Little Princess was very glamorous, and she was famous for
her unmatched beauty. All the people in the town would gather in
the evening below her balcony just to watch her as she walked out
to watch the sunset.

The Princess knew that they came to watch her, but she
pretended not to see them. Even so, she was very pleased. It made
her feel good to know that all the people thought she was so
beautiful.

One evening, however, as the Little Princess stepped out onto the
balcony, she glanced down below and no one was there.
"Oh no!" she thought, "What happened to all of my admirers?
Where did they all go?" she wondered.
That evening, she was very sad.

The next evening came. Again, no one came to watch her.
"Oh no!" the Princess cried, "They have gone for good! I will be all
alone now!"

As the weeks went by, and still, none of the townspeople came to
see her, the Little Princess grew more and more lonely.

So one day she decided to go find out where all the people went.

She put on her coat, and she left the castle. She walked and she
walked.

She walked through a fantastic field of yellow sunflowers.

She jumped over a small bubbling stream.

She quietly followed a cute little squirrel as he gathered nuts.

She ran quickly past a hive of buzzing bees.

She chased a playful purple butterfly through a forest of tall trees.

And finally she came to a small pond where all the townspeople
were gathered.

It was just about sunset when she found them. They were huddled
together by the edge of the pond. They were looking at
something and they were admiring how beautiful it was!

"But what is it? What can be more beautiful than I?!" the Little
Princess wondered.

She pushed her way through to the edge of the pond (nobody
took any notice of her)...and then...she saw it.

It was a simple white lotus flower.

"But what is so beautiful about it?" the Little Princess wondered.

She decided to come back the next morning to try to find out
what was so special about this simple lotus flower.

There were no other people at the pond when she arrived. She
took off her coat and laid it on the ground and sat down.

As she looked at the Lotus Flower, many thoughts went through
her head.

She thought, "It doesn't have pretty green eyes as do I,".

She thought, "It doesn't have expensive elegant dresses or a
sparkling jeweled crown as I do."

She thought, "It doesn't have soft fair skin or long shiny auburn
hair as I do."

The lotus flower had none of the things which the Little Princess
thought were beautiful.

Finally, she became so frustrated thinking about it, she yelled out
loud to the lotus flower, "What is so beautiful about you!?"

To her great surprise, because she was not aware that flowers
could speak, she heard a tiny soft voice say, "I do not try to be
beautiful, I am only me."

"I beg your pardon," said the Princess to the Lotus Flower, "did you
just say something?"

"Yes," the Lotus Flower said. "I said that I do not try to be
beautiful."

The Princess was feeling very strange talking to a flower, but she
asked, "So why do all the townspeople come to see you instead of
me?"

"I don't know," said the Lotus Flower in that tiny soft voice, almost
a whisper in the Princess's mind.

"Hmm," thought the Princess, "well...if you do not try to be
beautiful and you do not know why they all come to see
you...then what do you try to be and what do you know?" asked
the Princess.

"I know that the sun rises every morning and sets every night," the
Lotus Flower said.

"And?" asked the Princess.

"I know that the moon rises every evening and sets in the
morning," the Lotus Flower said.

"And?" asked the Princess, she was starting to get annoyed with
this simple lotus flower.

"Hmm," thought the Lotus flower, "...I know that I am a lotus
flower," it said.

"So how do those things make you more beautiful than I?"
grumbled the Princess, who was already very irritated.

"Do they?" replied the Lotus flower.

"Yes they do!" yelled the Princess, "...because all the townspeople
used to admire me, but now they all come to admire you! I am all
alone now because of you, you stupid Lotus flower!" she cried.

Noticing the tears which were now running down the cheeks of
this little girl, the Lotus flower was silent for a while, thinking of
something to say which would explain everything and make the
poor little Princess happy again. The Lotus flower did not like to
see human beings sad and crying.

Finally, the white Lotus flower spoke.

"I am a flower and flowers were created to be beautiful. That is all
that I need to do, to provide beauty and to be pretty. That is all
that I am.

But you are a human, and a Princess. Someday you will rule this
whole country. Princesses are beautiful too, but that's not all they
are. A Princess needs to be smart, to be fair, to be strong and
brave, and to be good and righteous, to be merciful and
protective, and most of all, to have perfect judgment and make
good choices, because the whole country depends upon her
decisions and her actions. A Princess must not be selfish, jealous,
or vain."

The Little Princess was listening carefully to what the Lotus flower
was saying.

"Yes I am a flower and I am more beautiful than you," continued
the Lotus flower, "and the horse can run faster than you. The
monkey can climb higher than you. The bird can fly and you
cannot.

But you have a power that no one else has...you have the power
to protect us all."

The Little Princess stopped crying. The Lotus flower was right. She
was a human Princess, not a flower. If she made bad decisions,
the birds might not be able to fly in the clear blue sky anymore,
the monkey might not have any trees to climb anymore, the horse
might not have a place to run anymore, the flower might not have
a place to be beautiful anymore, and the townspeople might not
have any beauty in their country anymore.

Then the Little Princess knelt beside the white Lotus flower and
kissed it, "I will protect you," she whispered.

Quietly and thoughtfully, with a smile on her lips, she walked back
to the castle.

She chased a playful orange butterfly through the forest of tall
trees.

She ran quickly past the hive of buzzing bees.

She saw the little squirrel again, gathering nuts.

She jumped over the small bubbling stream.

She walked through the fantastic field of yellow sunflowers.

Finally she reached the castle.

And to the Little Princess, it felt as if she had grown...a little
older...a little taller...a little stronger...and a little wiser.