Story 6: The Prince and His Tutor

A king handed his son over to a scholar and said: This is your child now. Raise him as you would raise one of your own. The tutor served faithfully and took on the task. For several years he worked hard on the boy but got nowhere, while the tutor's own sons reached the heights of learning and eloquence. The king took the scholar to task and rebuked him: You broke your promise and failed to keep your word. The tutor replied: Let it not be hidden from the king's wise judgment that the teaching was the same, but the natures were different. Though silver and gold come out of stone, not every stone holds silver and gold. The star Canopus shines over the whole world, yet in one place it ripens leather, in another mere sackcloth.