Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-11-25

Many years ago there lived in an east
ern land a nobleman who owned q ring
of priceless value. The stone was a
large opal, but far more precious than
the beauty of gems was the magic power
hidden in the ring of making its wearer
beloved by his fellow men.
The nobleman who was the happy
owner of the ring never removed it from
his finger and was resolved that after his
death it should also remain in the pos
session Of his own family. So he be-
Queathed the ring to the one he loved
best among his sons, with the condition
that he in turn should bequeath it to his
favorite son, and SO through all succeed
ing generations. The inheritor of the
ring was always sure TO be beloved by all
who knew him and was, besides, to be
considered as the head of the family
without regard to birthright.
After being handed down in this way
through several generations the ring
came at last into the possession of IA
ther who had three sons, all equally obe-
dent and loving and all equally dear TO
him. Many times did the father try to
decide in his own mind TO which of his
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he loved them all equally he could not
choose between then.
Being one day alone with his eldest
son, he promised him that he should in
herit the ring, and at another time to the
second son, seeming 10 him the most
worthy. he made the same promise and
even did the same thing another day to
the third son. Soon after this he was at
tackled by an illness and feared that his
end was drawing near, yet he was still
unable to decide TO whom he should real
ly leave the ring, feeling so unwilling to
deprive two Of his sons of that to which
all seemed to have an equal claim. st
last, in the midst OF his perpleyity, new
idea struck him. and he sent secretly an
order to jeweier to make two rings aft
er the pattern CT the magic ring and to
spare no expense or pains to make them
exactly like it.
The jeweler was very skillful and sue
ceeded so perfectly in his task that when
he brought the two rings he had made
and showed them to the no5leman with
the original ring the latter could not dis
Germ which of the three was the true one.
He paid the jeweler large sum of mon
ey for his work and dismissed him. Then
he called his eldest son to him and took
tender farewell of him, bestowing upon
him his blessing and one of the rings,
which the son of course supposed to be
the true and only one. He next sent for
his second son and spoke privately in the
same way to him, giving him also ring,
and so with the third, and soon after this
he died.
His sons buried him with great pomp,
and when the funeral was over the eldest
son spoke to his brothers aud to the
friends who were assembled and claimed
to be the head and ruler of the family as
being the possessor OF the ring.
Great was the astonishment Of the 9TH
er brothers and all were amazed when.
each showed his own ring and told OF his
fathers last words to him and made ihe
same claim that the eldest had made.
Then arose an eager discussion. The
rings were examined, and it was found
impossible to distinguish the magic ring
from the others, and the brothers deter.
mined to bring the matter before the
judge. The judge questioned all the
brothers closely, but each one affirmed
exactly the same thing, that the father
had privately promised to give the ring
to him alone and that upon his deathbed
he had sent for him and had actually
given him the ring
Not one Of them was willing to believe
that the father had deceived him in the
matter, but each was more inclined to
suspect his brothers Of bringing forward
a false claim, supported by rings which
they pretended to be the true one. But
even this they were very unwilling to be-
H. IcI oI~
in mutual love and trust.
The judge was at first much perplexed
and exclaimed angrily: "Do sit here in
the seat of judgment to unravel all the
riddles that foolish people may bring me?
cannot pronounce which is the true
ring and who is the true head Of the fam
lily. But stay" he continued. "You tell
me that the true ring possesses the magic
power of making its owner beloved. This
must decide it, then, for the false rings
can never have such power. Now. say
which of you is most beloved by the 9TH
er two? Speak. You are silent. Do the
rings, then, only work inwardly upon
yourselves, so that each one loves himself
best? Oh, then you are all deceived and
deceivers tool Doubtless the true ring is
lost, and your father has bestowed upon
each OF you a false ring.
$50 if you wait here to hear my sem
tence you wait in vain, but if you seek
my advice l will gladly give it you. My
counsel is this: Return to your home and
cease your strife. Each one has received
a ring from his father. Let each one be-
lieve his ring to be the true ring, and in
order to prove to others the truth of his
claim let each one strive to make himself
the most beloved. Let him show gen
tie, generous spirit, noble forgetfulness
of self, sympathy with others, truth,
fidelity, modesty and, above all, piety to-
ward God. So will he who excels most
IN these virtues be the most beloved, and
so will all see plainly who is the owner
of the true ring"
The brothers returned to their home |
and followed the wise counsel of the |
judge. They Wed with each other in !
showing an amiable, unselfsh temper
until, by the constant practice of the vir-
tues which the judge had recommended !
TO them, they grew so unselfish that the I
dispute about the ring was forgotten,
and they passed their lives together in
harmony and happiness, and so the de- |
feit of their weak and unplinciped IA
ther had a better result than it deserved.
New York News.