Once upon a time there was a simple stone breaker who was dissatisfied with himself and his position in life. One day he passed in front of a rich merchant's house. Through the open doorway he saw many valuable and luxurious objects and important figures who frequented the mansion.
"How powerful is this merchant!" thought the rock breaker. He was very jealous of that and wished he could be like the merchant. To his great surprise he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, although he was envied and detested by all those less powerful and wealthy than himself. One day a high-ranking government officer stepped ahead of him on the street, carried in a silk litter, accompanied by submissive attendants, and escorted by soldiers who beat gongs to ward off the commoner. Everyone, no matter how rich, had to bow to their passing.
"How powerful is this officer!" he thought. "I wish I could be a high officer!"
Then he became the high officer, carried on his silk litter wherever he went, feared and hated by the people around him. It was a hot summer day, and the officer was very uncomfortable in the sweaty silk litter. He looked at the sun. It glowed proudly in the sky, indifferent to its pitiful presence below.
"How powerful is the sun!" he thought. "I wish I was the sun!"
Then he became the Sun. Shining fiercely, casting its rays upon the earth upon everything and everyone, cresting the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But one day a gigantic black cloud stood between him and the earth, and his heat could no longer reach the ground and everything about him.
"How powerful is the storm cloud!" he thought "I would like to be a cloud!"
Then he became the cloud, flooding fields and villages with rain, causing fear to all. But suddenly he realized that he was being pushed away with tremendous force, and knew it was the wind that did it.
"How powerful is the wind!" he thought. "I wish it was the wind!"
Then he became the hurricane wind, blowing the roof tiles of the houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all creatures on earth.
But at one point he found something he could not move a millimeter, no matter how much he blew around him, blowing gusts of air. He saw that the object was a large tall rock.
"How powerful is the rock!" he thought. "I would like to be a rock!"
Then he became the rock. More powerful than anything else on earth, eternal, immovable. But while he was there, proud of his strength, he heard the sound of a hammer hitting a chisel on a hard surface, and felt himself shattered.
"What could be more powerful than a rock?!?" he thought surprised.
Then he looked down and saw the figure of a rock breaker.
