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PRIDE A CANDLE and a joss-stick were burning side by side in the two niches of a wall. Each was conveying a message to the world in the process of burning. The candle with its mild light and the joss-stick with its sweet perfume beautified and cheered the night.
One day they fell out over a trivial matter. The elegant white candle cried out saucily to the thin, black joss-stick, “You are so dark and thin and ugly, nobody would ever think of fooking at you twice!"
The joss-stick held its peace. Its silence provoked the candle to words of greater insolence. “You don't seem to possess even the. wit to answer me. I see that ugliness isn't your only drawback.”
The joss-stick was still unperturbed. “Look at me,” screamed the candle. “I am so fair and luminous and I utilise my gifts to brighten the room; what do you...”
There came a gust of wind and puffed out the candle even as its boastful words were uttered, leaving behind only an unpleasant smell.
The joss-stick glowed on, content to spread its fragrance. Its Supreme Virtue was Contentment.
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