Page 75 - Moral Stories Vol 5

red vegetable to his rice. That handful of rice fed him so well that he felt as if he had been treated to a feast.
“Even a bitter pepper from your own home can taste sweet when you’re off among strangers,” Shen thought, and at that instant he heard in reply the same voice as the day before. “Every day add a little piece of me to your rice, just the tiniest piece, so that I’ll last a long time, and I’ll help you keep up your strength.” Now, sure that his red pepper really was talking to him, Shen answered, “Thank you, little pepper, for helping me out in my troubles but can you tell me, please, why I get so much energy from so little?”
“Because you cared for me with love as I grew in your garden,” the pepper replied. Suddenly Shen grew sad. “If I eat you all up, you’ll be gone and I’ll lose a very kind friend.” “Don’t worry,” the pepper assured him. “Save my seeds, and plant them in your garden in the spring and I will come back.”
This is exactly what the young man did. The little pepper gave him strength to keep on working until the spring and then he went to his
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