The Man, The Butler and The Monk

There was a man who woke up every morning to go to a job he hated. During his drive to work he’d say out loud, “If only I could win the lottery, then I’d be set. All my problems would be gone, I would travel the world and life would be great.” All day he’d think about the lottery, and what he’d do with the money. Every week he’d go and buy tickets convinced that he was going to win. One day after buying his lottery tickets, the man was crossing the street and was struck by a car he didn’t see coming. He broke both his legs so badly that doctors told him he’d never walk again. As he lay in the hospital bed trying to recover from his surgeries, he turned on the tv and found that someone in his town had won the lottery. He checked his ticket and found out it was him. He was so overjoyed. As soon as he was released from the hospital, he went down to the lottery headquarters to collect his prize. Now he was a multimillionaire. Soon after, he bought a mansion and filled it with everything he wanted.

After basking in his riches for a while, the man began to feel sad again. He began thinking about how despite all of the things he bought, he could not walk. Every day the man said out loud, “If only I could walk again, then I’d be set. I would travel the world and my life would be perfect.” One day the man rolled in his wheelchair around his estate, then suddenly everything went dark around him and he couldn’t see a thing. In a panic he started to scream. His butler came to his aid and managed to get him calm enough to take him to the hospital. The doctors told him he’d suffered an eye stroke and they weren’t sure if he’d ever be able to regain his sight.

Back home on his estate, the man spent days being depressed about his poor fate. Every day he would say out loud “If only I could walk and see again, then I’d be set. I’d travel the world and my life would be great.” In an attempt to lighten the mood, the butler played music for him. The man had never heard such music before and was very moved by it. The man asked the butler where he got such music, and the butler replied that it came from his home country which was very far away. The man inquired more about the home country of the butler and found that although his home country was very beautiful, his dream was to live in America. The butler used his life savings to move to the other side of the world and live his dream. Talking about his home country made the butler remember a wise monk who was able to heal all manner of diseases. The man asked the butler if he thought the monk could make him see and walk again and the butler confidently said yes. The man asked the butler to take him to the monk immediately, but the butler said the trip was very expensive especially in his condition. The man didn’t care about the cost and told the butler to do everything necessary to make this trip happen.

A short time later, they made the long journey to the home country of the butler and completed the arduous hike up the mountain to the home of the wise monk. They waited all day for an audience with the monk, and at sundown they were finally able to sit with him. The monk greeted them warmly and asked them why they’d come so far. The man explained his desire to see and walk again. The monk asked him how he came to such a fate, and the man told him the story of the car accident, the lottery and the stroke. After the man finished the story, the wise monk sat in silence for a while looking off into the distance. The monk then answered, “It is possible for you to be healed, but it will take nine months. You must drink specially prepared tea from herbs only grown on this mountain and you must remain here until you are healed.” The man instantly agreed and had his butler make arrangements to stay.

The man was so excited he could hardly sleep, so at the crack of dawn the man had the butler wheel him out for a stroll as the sun rose. They were both quiet as they went along. The man was taken aback by the songs of the morning from the birds on the mountain. He could not believe how beautiful everything sounded. He started to feel the warmth of the sun as it rose, and with it came the crescendo of noises from more animals beginning their day. Every day the man requested to greet the morning the same way. As the man continued to drink the tea day by day, he noticed the darkness in his eyes become lighter and lighter. Each day he looked forward to how much brighter the light in his eyes would become and he awakened more eager every day to discover what advancements he could notice in his sight.

One morning when the man opened his eyes he could see shadows. As he hooped and hollered for joy waving his arms, he felt his toes tingle a little. He fell silent immediately and focused his attention towards his feet. He tried to wiggle his toes and could feel even more tingling. The man could barely contain his excitement. As the days continued to pass, shadows turned to blurs then into clear pictures. Tingling toes turned to wiggling toes which turned into twitching legs. The man kept greeting the dawn, admiring all around him, drinking the tea and improving. Pretty soon, he could clearly see the birds whose songs announced the day, and admire the sun whose warmth awakened the earth. He couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the beauty around him and the gift of experiencing it. At the end of the nine months the man was indeed healed. He could not thank the wise monk nor his faithful butler enough. 

When the man prepared to leave, the butler had some news for him. He explained that the cost of doing what the man asked was very high. The travel, accommodations and maintenance of the estate over the months drained his account and the butler had to sell many of the man’s things to cover the expenses. The butler thought the man would be upset, but his smile never left his face. Incredulous, the man asked the butler how much was left, to which the butler replied, "Barely enough to get us back to America." The butler became upset thinking that he’d failed because he had to spend most of the man’s money, and he bowed his head down preparing for the worst. The man thought for a while and then asked the butler, “Do I still have somewhere to live?” The butler replied, "Yes, but the mansion doesn’t have much in it anymore.” The man stared off into the distance and contemplated. The silence seemed like an eternity to the butler. Finally, the man said “Thank you for your service to me, but I think you should take the money and fly back to America by yourself. You can live at my estate. It’s yours now.” The butler couldn’t believe what he'd just heard nor understand the reasoning behind it, so he just had to ask why. The man answered, “I got what I wanted most in the world, which turned out to be what I already had in the beginning, but I just didn’t notice. Living in America is your dream and I can't deny you that chance. Take the money and go. I’ll be fine here. I’m all set.”

So the butler went to America, and the man stayed on the mountain and they were both content.