The Stone Cutter

There was once a stone cutter who was unhappy with both himself and with his position in life. One day, as he passed by a wealthy merchant's house, he looked through the open gateway. There, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors.
"How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter.
He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.
Suddenly, to his great surprise, he became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself.
Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession.
"How powerful that official is!" thought the stone cutter. "I wish that I could be a high official!"
No sooner were the words spoken than he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around.
It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence.
"How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"
Immediately, he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers.
But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below.
"How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"
Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind.
"How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"
Thus, he became the wind, blowing tiles from the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock.
"How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!"
And so, the stonecutter became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth.
But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed.
"What could be more powerful than rock?" he thought.
The rock looked down and saw far below him the lone figure of a stone cutter.
Author Unknown