By Cathy Hird

I want to tell a traditional story that I learned from William R. White and his book, Stories for the Telling.

There was once a king who had three daughters. As he aged, he pondered which of the three he would choose to rule after him. He decided on a test.

The king called his three daughters to the throne room and said, "I have to go on a long journey, perhaps years. While I am gone my steward will look after the kingdom, and I want you to treasure the gift in this box." The king presented each with a small box and gave them a strong embrace.

The young women were confused and a little sad, but honoured their father's decision. They left the throne room to examine the gift he had left with them.

As soon as the first daughter closed the door behind her, she tore open the box. All there was inside was a single grain of wheat. She dumped the grain of wheat on the floor and put the box in her room.

When the second daughter left the throne room, she opened the box carefully and found inside a single grain of wheat. She lifted out the grain and looked at it carefully. She frowned. It seemed to be an ordinary grain of wheat. She turned it around and around. There did not seem to be anything special about it, but her father said to treasure it.

The woman went to the royal jeweler. "Encase this seed in crystal, then braid a chain of finest gold so that it will hang as a pendant." When it was ready, she returned and placed the chain around her neck and wore it every day.

When the third daughter left her father, she held the box very carefully. When she had closed the door behind her, she opened the box and found...a single grain of wheat. Why would her father give her a grain of wheat, she wondered. She walked slowly to her room and placed the open box on her dresser.

As she went about her work for the next few days, she pondered the gift. And pondered it. Finally, she got a small pot full of earth from the gardener, and she pushed the grain into the dirt. The pot was placed on her window sill - she chose the one that faced south. The earth was watered carefully and watched until a green shoot sprouted.

Eventually, the king returned, greeted his steward and sat on his throne. After he had dealt with two urgent matters, he sent three servants to summon his daughters. "Tell them to bring the gift I left with them," he added.

The first servant found the first daughter and said, "Your father summons you to the throne room with the gift he left for you to treasure."

"What gift?" the young woman blurted out. "Oooooh." She ran to her room for the box, then demanded a grain of wheat from the chief farmer. Then, she carried the box with the grain of wheat to her father. "Welcome home, Father. Here is the gift you left in my care."

"Thank you, my daughter," the king said. The steward thought his voice sounded a little sad.

Another servant found the second daughter, when he delivered his message, she touched the pendant around her neck proudly. Head held high, she walked to the throne room.

The king saw that she had nothing in her hands. "The gift I left for you to treasure?"

"It is here, Father," she said. "It is held in finest crystal and clasped around my neck with gold. I have worn it as a treasure every day you were gone."

"Thank you, my daughter," the king said. The steward thought his voice sounded quite sad.

The third servant found the third daughter. She put down the tools of her work, and a bit anxiously headed for the throne room.

When she walked into his presence empty handed, the king's voice was more than a little gruff. "Where is the gift I left for you to treasure?"

"I do not have it with me, Father." The king's eyes narrowed, and his brow furrowed, but she continued. "If you look out the windows to the east and to the south, you will see fields of golden grain almost ready to harvest. These fields came from the single grain of wheat you left in my care. Soon there will be enough to feed the whole city."

A bright smile came to her father's face. "Thank you, my daughter," the king said. "You shall rule the kingdom after me."

That's the story. Not a surprise ending. But it does pose a question to us. What gifts have been left in our care, and how have we treasured them?

Cathy Hird is a farmer, minister and writer living near Walters Falls.