THE TREASURE (an international folktale)
Once there was an old woman who was a seamstress. Her motto was: "What they tear, I repair." She was so good at fixing torn sleeves or ragged hems that one she repaired a garment, it never needed repair again. So her customers never needed to return which is why she was poor.
One night she had a dream. She dreamt of a castle with sparkling towers and a river. Over the river was a bridge, and under the bridge there was treasure. The dream seemed so real that when she woke, she couldn't stop thinking about it.
The next night she had the same dream. Only this time, there were flags flying from the towers and a guard in a blue and gold uniform guarding the entrance to the bridge, under which was treasure. When she awoke, it all seemed so real, she thought about it all day.
The third night the dream came to her again. This time she saw herself in the dream. She was walking down the road that came to the bridge. She was speaking to the guard in gold and blue who guarded the bridge. She was under the bridge digging up the treasure and when she opened the box, it was full of gold coins. She awoke knowing that the dream was real, that she had to leave her home and find the city, the bridge, and the treasure.
And so she did.
She traveled for many days until at last she saw a river that was exactly like the river in her dreams and a castle exactly like the one in her dreams and a bridge identical to the one she saw in her dreams. And there was the guard dressed in a blue and gold uniform.
She started to cross the bridge and the guard stopped her. "I can't let you cross the bridge. That bridge belongs to the king," he told her.
"But I dreamed about this bridge," she told him. "And I dreamed about you and you look exactly like you did in my dream down to the gold braid on your uniform."
The guard shifted uncomfortably.
"Underneath the bridge is a box with treasure in it. I only have to dig it up and it will be mine," the woman explained.
The guard laughed. "Even if there was treasure, it would belong to the king, not to you."
"But it was so clear in my dream," she said. "I'm sure I'm meant to have it."
"I would look foolish," the guard said, "if I followed a dream to a treasure I could never have. One night, I dreamed there was treasure under the tiles in my kitchen but I didn't dig up the floor to find it. Go home. There's nothing for you here."
With a heavy heart, she turned back towards home. When she finally reached her little house, she went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. That's when she noticed the uneven tiles under the stove and remembered the words of the guard. The tiles had been like that for years, but she never noticed.
With great effort, she pushed the stove a few inches and reached down and removed some of the tiles. There, under the stove, was a box, and in the box was treasure. It was filled with gold coins. They were under her feet all the time.
So in this time of isolation, when we especially miss our previous ordinary lives, remember to look for the treasure under your feet-it may or may not glitter like gold coins but it's there all the same. Take this opportunity to find your many treasures while you stay at home, to discover what you have missed or taken for granted, to practice gratitude and wonder. And may every discovery you make be a blessing.