Lesson 1 What Matters to You?
A Priceless Gift
Long ago, an honest merchant lived in Genoa, Italy.
His name was Antonio, and he went to different places to support his family by trading.
One day, he filled his ship with goods and visited a faraway island.
There he traded tools for spices and books for nuts.
Thanks to Antonio, the islanders could get what they needed.
One night, Antonio had dinner with the island’s queen at her palace.
When dinner was served, rats appeared, and some servants chased them away with sticks.
Antonio was greatly surprised that there were rats in the palace.
He asked, “Are there no cats on this island?”
The queen looked puzzled. “What is a cat?” she asked.
The merchant said to himself, “What the islanders here need is not tools or books, but cats.”
He brought two cats from his ship and let them run free.
“What amazing animals!” cried the queen when she saw all the rats run away.
She gave Antonio a chest that was filled with jewels.
Back in Italy, Antonio told his friends about his good fortune.
Luigi, the richest merchant in Genoa, heard the story and was jealous.
“Cats are worthless,” Luigi thought.
“I’ll bring the queen what is really valuable.
I’m sure that the queen will give me more jewels.”
Luigi packed his ship with wonderful paintings and other works of art.
He took the gifts to the island.
To get a chance to meet the queen, he told the islanders a lie that he was a good friend of Antonio’s.
When the queen heard about Luigi, she invited him to her palace for dinner.
Before sitting down at the table, Luigi presented the queen with all his gifts, and the queen thanked him again and again.
“I’ll repay you with a priceless gift,” said the queen.
Luigi watched the queen whisper in a servant’s ear.
He became excited and hopeful.
He was sure that he would receive more jewels than Antonio.
After a while, the servant returned with a box, and the queen presented it to Luigi.
When Luigi opened the box, he was speechless.
There was a kitten in the box.
“Antonio gave us the priceless cats, and we now have some kittens,” said the queen.
“In return for the wonderful gifts you gave us, we want to give you what is most valuable to us.”
Luigi realized that, in the queen’s mind, the kitten was worth far more than all the jewels in the world.
He tried to look pleased with the gift.
He knew that was the right thing to do.
Luigi did not return home a richer man.
But he was surely a wiser one.
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