Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was
           coming time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or
           one of his own children, he decided to do something different. 

           He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It has
           come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to
           choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am
           going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I
           want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from
           today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants
           that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the
           kingdom!" 

           There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others,
           received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She
           helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it
           carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. 

           After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds
           and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and checking his
           seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still
           nothing. 

           By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he
           felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he
           had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing.
           Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed
           to grow. 

           A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the
           emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty
           pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about
           what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right.
           He took his empty pot to the palace. 

           When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other
           youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the
           floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just
           said, "Hey nice try." 

           When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people.
           Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you
           have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next
           emperor!" 

           All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty
           pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The
           emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!" 

           When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he
           replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked
           everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd,
           "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling
           couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor? 

           Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told
           you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave
           you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought
           me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grown,
           you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with
           the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the
           one who will be the new emperor!" 

           Author Unknown