Parable of the Day: Student Asks a Teacher a Question about Love

Choosing a life partner is an important choice one has to make, which could either go wrong or right. This parable showcases some tips one should consider when picking a partner.

A student asked his teacher why people frequently married a different person rather than the person they fell in love with. In reply, the teacher asked him to go to a wheat field, pick the best wheat and return.

However, the student was to obey a rule. He could only go through the field once and not turn back to pick any wheat. The boy arrived at the area and passed through the first row.

He noticed a huge one and liked it immediately. But, he thought there might be a larger one if he went further. He was right; there was a bigger one in front. Again, the student wondered if there was another bigger than the second.

He continued on his adventure, and after he had covered more than half of the field, he began to notice that the ones in front were not as big as those he left behind. In search of a bigger one, the student had missed out on the best.

He returned to the teacher empty-handed and narrated his experience. The teacher explained that he kept searching for a better one while he neglected the best. On realization, it was too late, and he could not go back.

The teacher noted that the student's experience with the wheat was very similar to people who fell in love and lost the best person. With more questions for his teacher, the boy asked, "Does that mean one should never fall in love?"

The teacher explained that anybody could fall in love if they found the best person. However, one should never leave that person due to ego, anger, or comparison with others.

Again, the student asked, "How do they end up marrying someone other than they loved?" Replying to the boy, the teacher instructed him to go to a cornfield and pick the biggest corn.

With the previous rule still in place, the boy did as the teacher instructed. He arrived at the cornfield, but this time, he chose to be more vigilant. The student selected medium-sized corn he was happy with and returned to the teacher.

Again, he narrated his experience to the teacher. In her response, she explained to him that his experience is how someone should choose marriage. She noted that the boy picked nice corn and put his faith in it.

Perplexed and unsatisfied with the answer, the student stood, drowning in his thoughts. The teacher was eager to know what the problem was. The boy could not decipher which was better, marrying someone you love or loving the person you marry. The teacher replied:

"It's a very easy answer, only if you are willing to admit it to yourself."

Read another parable with a moral lesson here.

Source: Moral Stories