He lived in a cottage on the river bank, from which he could get a grand view of the beautiful country stretching away to the sea.

He had a wife and children; an extensive farm, fields of grain, gardens of flowers, orchards of fruit, and miles of forest.

He had plenty of money and everything that heart could wish.

He was contented and happy.

One evening a priest of Buddha visited him, and, sitting before the fire, explained to him how the world was made, and how the first beams of sunlight condensed on the earth's surface into diamonds.
The old priest told that a drop of sunlight the size of his thumb was worth more than large mines of copper, silver, or gold; that with one of them he could buy many farms like his; that with a handful he could buy a province, and with a mine of diamonds he could purchase a kingdom.