It filled the whole room

A wealthy businessman in Hong Kong had spent the best years of his life building his mammoth textile business. One day, he was told that he was dying from an incurable disease. His immediate thought was about his business. Who would carry it on? And which of his three sons could he entrust it to?

He called his three sons and gave them a 10-cent coin each. To each he said, “Go to the market place and buy something that will fill this empty room. You must not spend anything more than 10 cents and you must be back before sunset.”

When evening came, the first boy dragged a bale of hay into the room. When he undid it, it covered two walls of the room. The old man gave a grunt of satisfaction.

The second boy brought in two bags of cotton and when he undid them, it covered the three walls.

“Excellent!” exclaimed the old man. Then he turned to the third boy, “What have you bought?”

“Father,” the son replied uncertainly. “Part of the money went to feed a hungry child, and part I gave to the church. And then I found that I had only one cent left. With that I bought this candle.”

Saying that, he lit the tiny candle – the light from it filled the whole room!