a grain as big as hen's egg

 This is the Leo Tolstoy story which we had in high school.

The actual story in short...

The king finds a big grain and was amazed by the size of the grain. He wanted to know more about the grain. The king asked the wise men to find out about the grain. They pondered over it but could not understand anything. One day, when a hen pecked at it, the wise men saw it and realised that the thing was a grain of rye. Rye is a plant grown in cold countries. The wise men searched in their books to find when and where the grain had grown but they did not find anything. So they advised the king to ask the peasants as they may have heard about it from their fathers.

The king summoned one of the oldest peasant in the town. A 80 year old peasant was bent, ash pale and toothless. He entered the king's hall slowly with the assistance of one person as he was finding little bit difficult to walk. He had also eyesight and hearing problems to a great extent. He tells the the king that he had seen that grain while he was a small child and informs that his father might pour more inputs. So the peasant's father was summoned.

The father of the peasant enters King's Court alone walking on a single crutch. Though he had some eyesight and hearing problems to some extent they were better than his son. He informs that his father used to grow such grains and his father would be able to tell more about the grain. The king was shocked to hear that the peasant's father still lives in the village and is engaged in field activities. So the grandfather of the peasant (first peasant) was summoned to the king's court. 

The grandfather enters like a military man, with clear eye sight, well built up body, hears clearly and still works in fields. The king was surprised to witness the fitness of grandfather. 

Then the grandfather speaks fluently and explains about men's fitness, good health, no money transfers etc. bla.. bla.. bla..

The moral of the story tells about older people who live long  due to their good habits, good physical and mental activities and of course with positive thinking.  The grandfather’s health was better than that of his son and grandson because nowadays, men have ceased to live by their own labour. They depend on the labour of others. The people have begun to want, to covet what others have. This has resulted in poor health and discontentment of the present day generation.

I still remember my father teaching me this lesson while I was preparing for the midterm exam.

This is nostalgia...

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