A wealthy man requested an old scholar to wean his son away
from his bad habits.
The scholar took the youth for a stroll through a garden.
Stopping suddenly he asked the boy to pull out a tiny plant growing there. The
youth held the plant between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it out.
The
old man then asked him to pull out a slightly bigger plant. The youth pulled
hard and the plant came out, roots and all.
"Now pull out that one," said the old man pointing
to a bush. The boy had to use all his strength to pull it out.
"Now take this one out," said the old man,
indicating a guava tree. The youth grasped the trunk and tried to pull it out.
But it would not budge.
"It's impossible," said the boy, panting with the
effort.
"So it is with bad habits," said the sage.
"When they are young it is easy to pull them out but when they take hold
they cannot be uprooted."
The session with the old man changed the boy's life.
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