An ascetic was a royal guest of a king. He stayed in the royal park and spent time in meditation. Now the king had a son. The son was ill-tempered. The king had called many teachers to reform his son but they had all given up. The king requested the ascetic to help him. One day, when the ascetic was walking in the garden with the son, he pointed to a leaf of a plant and told the son to taste it. As soon as the son bit the leaf, he threw it out, as it was bitter. The ascetic pointed out, “If there is so much bitterness in a baby plant, how much bitterness will there be when it grows up?” The son understood the meaning of the ascetic’s words and changed himself from that day. The king was very happy and thanked the ascetic for his help.
The Bitter Leaf
