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Honeyed Diplomacy

 Once, an Asian king decided to alleviate his people’s literacy, so he devised a set of alphabets that common folks could easily learn; his invention was simpler than the characters popularly used then.

But he had a problem. He was sure the religious leaders would oppose any major changes in the people’s way of life. For some time he was in a quandary, until one night he had an idea. He stealthily went to the Royal garden and wrote the alphabets on the leaves using honey.

In the morning he summoned the high priests and showed them the leaves. The priests were mystified with what they saw.

“This is a miracle; a message from the heavens.” The priests exclaimed in amazement.

“No man can etch those exquisite marks!”

“This could be the divine way of writing!”

“Yes, this is  a divine gift from the Gods.  They had blessed our realm today!” Their leader solemnly pronounced.

Since then the king’s alphabet gained tremendous popularity with the king’s support and that of the religious authority.

What the priest saw were simply the marks left by ants as they gnawed on the honeyed leaf, thus they were right. The marks they saw were not manmade. Nonetheless, the kingdom is one of the few Asian countries today that use alphabet instead of complicated characters.

Learn the wisdom of the king: Noble ends are not enough; the means should be acceptable too.

 ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~