Monday, March 19, 2012

Short Story: The Man and the Tower



The Man and the Tower


There once was a King who arranged a running competition for the young men of his kingdom. The contestants will have to run a hundred miles and then climb a very high tower. The goal is to reach the flag perched on that tower. The winner shall be presented to the King and will be given the honor to have the Princess to be his bride.

Everyone was excited to join. The princess is so beautiful and very kind, she's the kingdom's most cherished treasure.

The day of the race came. A hundred young men joined the competition. A big crowd had gathered around to see the race and cheer on the contestants. Finally, it began. Shouts of encouragement echoed across the kingdom.

After running for 20 miles, the people shouted.

"You can all do it!"
"Go get that flag and marry the Princess!"

After 50 miles, the crowd began to notice that the runners were getting tired and were running slow.

"They're getting pretty tired!"
"They will never get to the tower!"

When the runners reached the 80th mile, they were panting and were obviously exhausted. The crowd began to boo.

"Not a chance that they will succeed. 20 miles more before they reach the tower!"
"And they won't be able to climb it since it is very high!"
"You're all failures! None of you will marry the Princess!"

They began to collapse.. one by one. But there are still a few who were running. They approached the 100th mile. Still, the crowd continued to yell.

"It is too difficult!!! You will be failures, all of you!"
"Boooo!"

Only 10 men reached the tower. But all of them gave up and never even tried climbing the tower.. except one. He continued to climb higher and higher. This one wouldn't give up. At last, he reached the top!

Everyone applauded. As the man climbed down the tower, everyone greeted and was congratulating him for reaching the top and grabbing the flag. Now he will marry the Princess.

Naturally, everyone wanted to know how he did it. A contestant asked the winner, "How did you do it? How did you find the will to go on? Everyone was sure that not one of us will climb that tower, but you did. How did you manage to do it?"

The young man just smiled and continued to walk away. He was presented to the King and was escorted back to the palace to meet with the Princess. The contestant who asked was confused. "That was rude.", he said.

An old man behind him spoke. "I know that young man. And I'm sure he will gladly answer your questions, if only he could hear. He is deaf, you see. He did not hear all the positive chants. He did not hear all the negative cheer. He was focused on his goal. And I think that is why he succeeded."


Source: Facebook 
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"Don't ever let somebody tell you, you can't do something. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. You want something, go get it. Period." - Christopher Gardner (The Pursuit of Happyness)


20 comments:

  1. In every race, It's not about the crowd. In every race, It's not about the other runners beside you. In every race, it's not about them. It's about YOU! Pero pag nanalo ka, share your blessings to everyone. Yan ang tunay na panalo.

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    1. Hmm.. interesting. But I think the you have a different interpretation of the story. Interesting, nonetheless.. :D

      I think what the author was pointing out.. the moral of the story is that.. People can and will say whatever they want. They will try to put you down. But if you have a dream you wanna reach, you just gotta go for it, against all odds.

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  2. Great story! Parang ito yung story naman about sa mga dogs na tumatakbo papuntang mountain.

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    1. Yeah, may nabasa rin akong kapareho nito.. mga frogs naman ang bida. The frogs and the tower ata. Since I found this on Facebook, malamang edited version nato. I dunno kung saan talaga nanggaling or sino talaga sumulat ng story. :)

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  3. Stay focussed on your goal. If you want to do something, do it no matter what others tell you. Do your thing!

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  4. a very inspirational story to read! parang sermon ni Father kahapon :)

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  5. I did love that but I don't like accepting good can come of Facebook. Plus I bet it's been reposted to death there.

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    1. Hahaha! I was actually surprised that I found this story on Facebook. I bet its from a good story book or something. :)

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  6. in every run we have to gaze our sight on our goal and that is to finish what we started....which reminds me not to procrastinate again. Thanks for sharing this great story.

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  7. This reminded me of the Tendai Marathon Monks who run 60-100km every day for 1000 days.

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  8. Pagmay minimithi ka sa buhay na gusto mong makamtan na alam mong makakabuti sa kinabukasan mo at ng mga taong nakapaligid sayo, dapat maging handa at responsable ka sa mga mapanghamong pagsubok na darating sa iyong pagdadaanan. Marami ang hindi sang-ayon at marami ang di nakakakilala ng totoong ikaw at kung ano ang nasa loob mo pero di mo kailangang magpaliwanag kahit kanino. Maging determinado at maging matatag kana lang wag patitinag sa mga pangmamaliit, panlalait o pang-aabuso, hindi mo kailangang maghiganti, pakinggan mo lang sila anuman ang kanilang sinasabi pero wag mong hayaan na apihin at saktan ka. Minsan hindi lahat ng komento ay negatibo, minsan kailangan mo din ito para matuto, magsilbing hamon lamang ito sayo at sigurado balang araw magiging mas malakas at mas handa kang harapin at kamtin anuman ang iyong minimithing tagumpay. Haba nito, sensya na ito lang alam kong interpretasyon patungkol sa kwento mo Leah. Nagiging makata ako pagnapapahanga ako sa mga kwentong ganito :D

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    1. Naks. Galing ng interpretasyon mo, Gracie. Salamat. :)

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  9. tama nga naman! sometimes you have to be deaf so that you can't hear people's discouragements and that you can pursue your goal with a focus mind. also, 'pag may naninira, hayaan na lang kasi wala namang mapapala kung makikinig pa sa kanila.

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  10. yes this is great story, I just hear it too but other versions ata

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  11. I like the fairy-tale style of the story. Nice message in it, too.

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  12. this is similar to the story of the Turtles....wherein the turtle was deaf that's why he was able to reach the top a tower, a motivational story which was told by a professor nung send off party namen, hehe

    inspiring indeed!!

    :)

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  13. kaya takbo lang ng takbo & never get tired to reach your goal, amennn!

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  14. Sabi na at parang pamilyar ang kwento na ito. I had read a similar story na may princess at may pakulo yung hari. What is similar is bingi yung nanalo.

    If you have a goal then don't give too much attention to what the crowds are saying. Madalas panira pa sila ng masayang buhay.

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  15. Wow! Great story here Leah. Many are accomplished by a man focused and keeping his eye on the prize. :)

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