The Wisdom Hidden in a Thief’s Lesson
One day, a father and son who were both thieves broke into the storage room of a wealthy household.
The father quietly slipped out, leaving only his son inside the storeroom. Then he locked the door from the outside and shouted loudly, waking the owner of the house.
Just as the owner confirmed that the storeroom had been locked and turned away, the son trapped inside began making scratching noises like a rat.
When the owner opened the lock to chase the “rat” away, the son darted out like an arrow. Fleeing from pursuit, he ran around a pond and threw a large stone into the water, making it sound as though he himself had jumped in. In that way, he successfully escaped.
When the son returned home, he angrily confronted his father.
The father calmly replied:
“What is merely taught by others has its limits, but what one discovers for oneself remains useful for a lifetime.
I drove you into a corner only so that you could learn how to save yourself.”
This story is said to have been written by the Joseon Dynasty scholar-official Kang Hee-maeng as a lesson for his own son.
If even such a troubling incident was used as a means to awaken self-reliance, what more needs to be said about the other trials of life?
In the end, it is only when a person collides with hardship and finds a way forward on their own that the experience truly becomes theirs.
Flowers raised inside a greenhouse may appear beautiful, yet they are fragile. But wildflowers that endure wind and rain upon the open fields possess a far deeper resilience.
Children, too, should be given the freedom to fail at least once, and the opportunity to learn through their mistakes.
Parents should not believe they have fulfilled their role merely by shielding their children from every storm before they step into society.
— From Dawn Light Notes by Ki Jun Kwon
Today’s Reflection
★ Love should never run dry, but an excess of love can also make children weak. ★
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