The Prince and the Pasture

In a faraway land lived a spoiled and lazy prince, who thought that he deserved everything without having to make any effort.  The king, who knew his son would succeed him, was most concerned. His son has never worked for anything, and did not know that one must exert effort to earn things. The king decided to send his son to the king’s childhood friend, who was a wise farmer. The farmer provided the prince with a beautiful white room and a window overlooking the farm.  When he looked out the window, the prince saw a beautiful pasture with green grass and colorful wildflowers.

One day, the farmer took a heavy iron instrument, drew it upon a pair of oxen and began to destroy that part of the field, turning over the soil. All the grass and beautiful flowers were uprooted and trampled upon. The prince became angry and shouted to the farmer: “Why are you doing this, why are you ruining the beautiful garden?” The farmer did not answer the prince and continued to plow the ground in silence. The prince was filled with anger at the farmer’s injustice but continued to observe. The farmer then went to the warehouse, and opened a bag full of golden grains. The prince was again angered when to his amazement, the farmer seemed to waste the seeds by throwing them into the muddy upturned ground.

A few weeks passed and the prince was happy to see that part of the field sprout into a magic carpet of golden ears of wheat blowing in the breeze. One morning the farmer arrived with a sickle and began to reap the beautiful wheat.  The prince again cried out, “Why are you ruining these wonderful plants, why do you continue to spoil the beauty of creation?” But the farmer did not respond and continued working silently. The farmer took the stalks of wheat, and ground them up, turning them into a fine white powder.  Then the farmer took water and poured it over the powder, making it sticky, as the prince looked on puzzled.  A few hours later the dough rose, and the farmer’s wife began kneading the dough into round and plump loaves. But then to the prince’s surprise, the farmer took the loaves and put them into a burning hot oven, “What are you doing?” The prince screamed, “Why are you burning the dough?? I cannot restrain myself any longer. Every time there is a beautiful thing, you come and destroy it!” Slowly the aroma of fresh bread began to spread in the farmer’s home, and with it appeared a wide grin on the face of the farmer. He took the bread out of the oven, and brought it over to the beautifully set table. Now let us sit down, make a blessing, and enjoy a delicious meal, said the farmer to the fascinated prince. The bread was the most delicious food the prince had ever tasted.

A person experiences many difficulties in this life, and often ponders “Why is Hashem (G-d) doing this to me?”  The foundation of faith is to know and understand that we are seeing but a tiny part of a very large picture, and the One, our loving Father in Heaven, is directing and overseeing the full picture and knows that everything He sends a person is only for his very best. Anyone who tries to understand the happenings of the world only through what is visible to them at the moment, is similar to the prince who did not understand that everything the farmer did was only in preparation for the delicious bread. Only at the end, will we get to see and understand the entire picture, and we will rejoice in the realization that everything was only for our very best.