THE MYTH OF THE SPIDER

Once upon a time, there was a temple to which many people went to pray to the Buddha. A spider made a net on the beams. As time went by, the spider was edified and received wisdom. All of a sudden, one day, the Buddha came to the temple. Inadvertently he saw the spider. He asked her:" You have lived here and thought for one thousand years, I want to ask you a question." The spider was glad that the Buddha would speak to her, so she promised to reply. The Buddha said: "What do you think is the most precious thing?" The spider answered :“ I think the most precious thing is what I can't get and what I have lost." The Buddha left without a word. After a thousand years, the Buddha came and asked the spider the same question. The spider gave the same answer also. The Buddha said: "You can have a profound think, and I will come back to you some day."

One day after a millennium, a sudden gale rolled a drop of dew up to the net. The dew was glistening and translucent, spider liked it very much and she was happy looking at the drop of dew everyday. But after a few days, the wind rolled the dew away from her. The spider felt lost. Then the Buddha came again. He asked:" Have you had a profound think about that question?" The spider thought of the dew, so she said :"What I can't get and have lost is the most precious thing in the world for me." Buddha said: "That being the case, I will let you become a person." So the spider become a beautiful girl of a rich family in the capital city. One day, the emperor rewarded the champion of the country who was named Dew. All of the girls in the capital were attracted to Dew. But Spider believed that Dew will fall in love with her because of the Buddha.

But Dew had no impression of her, and didn't like Spider. Spider was sad. A few months later, the emperor announced that Dew would marry the Princess Wind and Spider would marry Prince Grass. She knew this and was extremely disappointed. She didn't have anything to eat for several days and was going to die.Then Prince Grass came hurriedly, and talked about his feeling of love for Spider. He said:" If you die, I will go with you!" He was ready to die. Just then, the Buddha came. He said to Spider:" Have you ever thought about who brings Dew to you? The Wind does this. And at last, the Wind will take it back. Dew belongs to Wind, not to you. But have you thought of Grass? He was the grass living in front of the temple. He was looking at you for three thousand years and loving you for three thousand years, but you never took any notice of him. Now, Spider, what do you think is the most precious in the world?" Spider understood the Buddha's meaning at once. She woke up, stopped Grass and gave him a deep hug. She said to the Buddha:" Now I know the most precious thing is the happiness I can have right now."

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