Virtue Family Precepts: The Classic Teaching Course That Influences a Child's Life

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-09
Features: Quality determines the height of life. One morning, on the shallow water pools of the beach, many small fish that had been washed ashore the previous night by the storm were stranded. They were trapped in the shallow water, though just a stone's throw away from the sea, they couldn't return. There were hundreds, even thousands, of trapped fish. Soon, the water in the shallow pools would be absorbed by the sand and evaporated by the sun, and all the fish would die. There were three children by the beach.
The first child ignored the small fish. He thought, "There are hundreds, even thousands of fish in this water pool. With my own strength, I can't possibly save them all. Why waste my effort?"
The second child bent down by a water pool—he picked up the small fish and threw them back into the sea. The first child mocked the second child: "There are so many fish in this water pool. How many can you possibly save? Save some energy instead."
"No, I will do my best!" the second child replied without looking up. "What's the point? It's all in vain. Who will care anyway?" "This little fish matters!" the second child said as he picked up a fish and threw it into the sea. "This one matters, and this one too! And this one, and this one, and this one."
The third child was mocking the first two for their lack of brains. He thought, "What a golden opportunity! Why not seize it?" So, the third child bent down and picked up the small fish, putting them into a bag made from his own clothes.
Years later, the first child became a doctor. Once, while on duty, he refused to treat a critically ill patient because the family brought too little money, and as a result, the patient died right in front of him due to lack of timely treatment. Under public pressure, the hospital fired him for refusing to help those in need. He felt wronged and couldn't bring himself to admit his mistake. He often thought, "With so many fish, could I have saved them all?"
The second child also became a doctor. He was highly skilled and had a noble medical ethic. Regardless of whether patients were rich or poor, he treated them with care. Thus, he became a renowned doctor in the local community, praised by everyone who mentioned his name. He often recalled the scene on the beach years ago. "I can't save everyone, but I can still save some. I can definitely alleviate their suffering," he would tell himself.
The third child started a business and quickly became wealthy. After striking it rich, he used his money to enter the political arena and rose through the ranks. Eventually, he was sentenced to death for corruption and bribery. On the execution ground, the scene from the beach years ago flashed through his mind: small fish struggling to death in the bag he made from his clothes, their desperate eyes fixed on him.
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