There once was a great field that was far expansive. It was said this field held buried treasure of immeasurable, insurmountable worth. Many curiosity seekers came and sought the treasure, but they didn’t want to put in the time and effort to actually find the treasure, so they just made the treasure a hang out place. One or two treasure hunters came to the field and claimed that they discovered the treasure, but it was in different spots, and they staked their claim on that part of the field. People flocked to get a chance to see the treasure, but the so-called finders only showed them pictures and described the treasure they had seen. It was enough to satisfy some imaginations, but many were unimpressed and walked away.

One of the ones who was “unimpressed” went off into another part of the field. You see, he had found an ancient map to this field which showed where the treasure was really buried. He found it covered with thorns and brambles. He cut away the thorns, and the thorns cut away at him, but he pressed on until he got the ground cleared. People jeered at him, and mocked him for being so determined when others had already dug up the treasures. But he knew his map was accurate, and he believed that the treasure was worth finding, so he kept going. Day and night seeking to go deeper.

As his shovel pierced the ground he soon ran into some rocks, large stones, heavy and rounded. He cleared one stone at a time until he had dug a deep and very loose-soiled hole. Once again the people mocked him as his hole got deeper. Some said he should take better care of himself. Others were curious though about what he would find, but not nearly enough to help him out. But he knew the treasure was greater than himself, so he kept on going. Day and Night seeking to go deeper and deeper.

As his shovel dug deeper he struck bedrock. Who would bury a treasure this deep? He sighed, the work was so difficult. He climbed up out of the hole using the ropes that he had kept to get out. When people saw him, they said, “You’re out of your hole! What’s the matter? Got in over your head? There’s nothing there.” But the treasure hunter went to the well, and pulled up a bucket of water, and then walked up to the edge of his hole, and poured out his pale into the darkness. They all were like, “What are you doing?” He grabbed the ropes and back down into the hole. And he kept digging with the ground now softer from the water. With some terrific strokes of his pickax, and chisels, he made it through a thin layer of bedrock. Little did he know that it was thin because it had been placed there. His shovel found soft soil underneath the bedrock, and down he went. Day and night he continued to go deeper.

The journey was exhausting, and tedious, and time consuming, until one day, his shovel struck something that clanked. It was not Rock. It was wood. This deep no tree roots grew and he was too deep to be seen clearly from above. He dug around it and found it was a box. He found that it had a lock on it. After cleaning off all the dirt he found that the lock was still shut tight. He swung his pick ax and clang! it came off. He pulled out the broken lock, and pulled out the latch, and then with both hands he opened the lid.

If anyone else had been in that deep, deep hole that man had dug for days and nights, they would have seen a trove of gold, silver, precious stones, gems, pearls, jewelry, and diamonds. The prize of the treasure was one mammoth pearl perfectly round, the size of an ostrich egg.

He put the pearl in his bag, covered the treasure over, and climbed out of the hole. He walked away from the hole first filling it with water, to make people think that he was making it into a well and that he had given up. Mostly, he was trying to keep his new-found treasure hidden.

He went to a connoisseur of fine pearls in the town. And told him he needed to see him privately. The man sat down with him and said, “What is it that you wanted to meet with me about.”

The treasure hunter reached into his satchel and pulled out the massive pearl. It weighed about 30 pounds. The eyes of the Connoisseur went just as wide as the the pearl. He was incredulous as he inspected it carefully.

“Where did you find this?”

“It was buried in the field.”

The man looked up at him. “You found the treasure of the field! I would like to buy it from you.”

“For how much?” he said.

The Connoisseur said, “I would offer you all of my finest pearl necklaces.”

The hunter shook his head. “No. Can you tell me how much it is worth?”

“Round pearls are extremely rare! and to find one this size, I don’t know of any of the other the round ones that are this large!”

“I will keep it for now. Please give me a certificate of it’s value.

“If you don’t sell it, keep it well hidden or someone will steal it.”

The hunter put it in his pouch and walked out. He went first to the owner of the field, and asked him what it would cost to purchase the whole field. The owner said the price. The Treasure would more than cover it. The hunter agreed, and gathered some of the gold from the treasure and went and spoke privately with the two hunters who had claimed they had found the treasure and he asked them to show him what they had found. They showed him their pictures, and they told him their descriptions. The hunter said, “You have not found the treasure of the field, neither do you really know what the treasure is. Leave this place and deceive the people no more.”

They said, “We have our claim. You cannot tell us what to do.”

“Your claim is invalid because the field’s owner has transferred all ownership to me.”

“What?”

He then took out the Pearl. The two of them stared at them in amazement. “It’s a fake.”

He showed them the certificate signed by the Connoisseur. They looked at him in the amazement.

“You will leave this field in my keeping, your claims are now forfeit. You will be gone by tomorrow and take all of your works with you. If you will tell everyone that you lied to them, I will give you a stipend for your care for the people who have stayed in your field. You will make sure they are all well supplied for their move.”

The posers left. One of them took no stipend and left quickly, but the other admitted his falsehood and gave the people the resources they needed to make the transition to another part of the field. Before the second poser left, the hunter who now owned the field came and handed him something in a cloth bag. The poser opened it up. It was several gold coins.

“Some use their position to care for others. Others use their position to take care of themselves. Since you took care of your people, you will have some help to start somewhere else. Start with honesty.”

The other man nodded and thanked the man and said farewell.

The man pulled out from the buried treasure at night, and used it to sow seed in his field. He hired the people who had been treasure hunters to become farmers in his field. He built his home next to the hole, and lived happily ever after.