The farmer illumines the king

One day a king rode out through the main gate of his city to go hunting. As he passed through the gate, he noticed that the boundary wall around the city was crumbling. This boundary wall had been constructed many years before to protect the city from attack. Now, in some places, large gaps were beginning to appear.

The king felt very sad that the boundary wall had fallen into such a state of disrepair. He said, “If I use all the funds in my treasury to repair the wall, how will I be able to keep my subjects happy? They are expecting me to be very kind and generous. If I have to pay for the wall, I will not be able to hold any special celebrations for my people. I do not know what is more important. Something has to be done soon.”

The king continued on, deep in thought. At last he came to a little farm. He saw that the farmer was busy putting a fence around his tiny plot of land. The king looked inside the fence to see what was so precious to the farmer. Here and there he saw a vegetable growing, but otherwise the plot of ground was filled with weeds.

The king asked the farmer, “What are you doing? You have not even removed the weeds! Is this the time to be putting up a fence?”

The farmer came over to the king and very respectfully said, “O King, forgive me, but I have to disagree with you. I feel I must do first things first. If I do not put up a good fence first, then stray cows and other animals can come and destroy my plants. I want to have many, many different kinds of vegetables. Without a fence they may all be ruined. If I put up a strong fence first, I can remove the weeds at any time and plant my vegetables. First I have to provide protection for my plants, and then I can think about when to remove the weeds and what seeds to sow.”

The king at once saw the wisdom of the farmer’s philosophy. He realised that he should also take care of his boundary wall first, so that his subjects would be safe, and then only should he think about how to make his subjects happy.