Once, there was an old lamp in the church. It was decided that on Christmas Eve he would be replaced by a new one. On his last night, three contenders who wished to take his place came up to the old lamp. The first one could emit light in the darkness. The second shone in the dark. The third gave bright light. The old lamp said that none of them could take his place. All three of them felt insulted and left. They did not hear what he had to say. The next day, a modern oil lamp replaced the lamp. When the three candidates saw the old lamp being carried away, they realized their mistake. They went to the old lamp and said, “It was already decided who would replace you. We should not have spoken without knowing the whole truth. We are very sorry.” The old lamp pardoned them.
The Three Lamps
