But presently it was set in a greenhouse， where the sunlight fell warm upon it， and water was sprinkled over it， and day by day as it waited， a change began to come to it. Something was stirring within it—a new hope. Still it was ignorant， and knew not what the new hope meant.
One day the clay was lifted again from its place， and carried into a great church. Its dream was coming true after all. It had a f？ine part to play in the world. Glorious music f？lowed over it. It was surrounded with f？lowers. Still it could not understand. So it whispered to another vessel of clay， like itself， close beside it， “Why have they set me here？ Why do all the people look towards us？” And the other vessel answered， “Do you not know？ You are carrying a royal scepter of lilies. Their petals are white as snow， and the heart of them is like pure gold. The people look this way because the f？lower is the most wonderful in the world. And the root of it is in your heart.”
Then the clay was content， and silently thanked its maker， because， though an earthen vessel， it held so great a treasure.
很久以前，在一條河邊有這樣一撮黏土。說起來，它也不過是普普通通的黏土，粗糙笨重，不過它對自己的價值看得很高。它對自己在世界上可能占有的地位懷有奇特的想象，認為隻要能得到機會，自己的價值一定會被人們發現。
在這撮黏土的頭頂上，明媚的春光裏，纖細的花兒和樹葉開始綻放，林中一片澄澈碧綠，樹木正在交頭接耳地講述，它們身上所閃耀的無盡光輝。那種景象就如無數紅綠寶石粉末所形成的彩雲，輕輕地飄浮在大地上。
花兒們看到這樣的美景，非常驚喜，它們在春風的吹拂下探頭欠身，相互祝賀：“姐妹們，你們出落得多可愛啊，你們給白日增添了多少光輝啊。”
河水也為新力量的加入而感到高興。它沉浸在水流重聚的喜悅中，不斷地用美好的音調向河岸低語，傾訴著自己是如何掙脫冰雪的束縛，如何從積雪覆蓋的群山奔流到這裏，以及它匆忙前往擔負的重任——許多水車的輪子等著它去推動，巨大的船舶等著它運送到大海裏。