One time a man came to one of the men who worked for him, gave him a big
stone, and said, “Now cut in this stone leaves just like the ones in
this picture.” The stone did not look very pretty, and the man said, “I
will do just the very best I can, but I wish I could cut in this
beautiful marble here.” So he toiled away with his sharp tools, and,
after much work, he finished the leaves according to the pattern.
When he finished this the master brought him another just like it, and
told him to cut a branch in it. So for weeks he worked on these big,
rough stones, and he did not know what they were for.
One day, when he was walking down town in the large city, he saw a
beautiful building. He went over to look at it, and there, in front of
that large building, were all those big, rough stones upon which he had
been working for so long; but they were all put together now to form a
most beautiful picture. The man looked at it a long time and then said:
“O how glad I am I did it well! Now I see what the master meant.”