REBECCA MARTIN: I’m Rebecca Martin. I’m a storyteller. Now every story has a hero. Sometimes the hero is someone who fights dragons and giants and is brave and strong. Other times the story is about a hero who is a very good person. I’m going to tell you a story about a very good person. The story is called, “The Empty Pot” by Demi. Now once upon a time there was a little boy named Ping. And he had a green thumb which means every plant he touched would grow healthy and beautiful and strong. He lived in ancient China when everyone loved the flowers, especially the emperor. But the emperor was growing older and he realized he had to find someone to be the next emperor of China. ‘How shall I choose the next emperor?’ he thought. ‘Shall I choose the bravest person? The tallest person? The silliest person? No! I will let the flowers decide. Each child will receive one seed and at the end of a year, whoever has the most beautiful flowers, shall be the next emperor of China’. So an edit was sent into the land.

Audio: Trumpet sounds

REBECCA MARTIN: And every child came into the castle and received one seed including Ping. And he went home and he got a beautiful empty pot and very rich soil. He dug a little hole. Patted it and put just the right amount of water. He put it in just the right light. He even sang to it a little song that went like this:

Grow, grow, grow.

Grow, grow, grow.

Grow little flower,

Grow, grow, grow.

REBECCA MARTIN: Everyday. The entire spring went by and nothing grew. The summer went by and nothing grew. The fall went by, “Grow, grow, grow” and nothing grew. The winter…..”Grow”, but nothing grew.

REBECCA MARTIN: A year had passed. Once again an edit went into the land.

Audio: Trumpet sounds

REBECCA MARTIN: The children were called again to go before the emperor. ‘ I cannot go before the emperor,’ Ping told his father. “Ping , look into your heart. Did you do your very, very best?” Ping thought about it. “Well, yes. I did everything I knew to do”.

“Then you have nothing to be ashamed of”, his father said. “Then go before the emperor with an empty pot.”

REBECCA MARTIN: So he came to the castle but when he got there, there were all these other children with big, bright, beautiful flowers. A little girl looked at him. “Oh, Ping, if I were you I would be so ashamed of having an empty pot. I would be afraid the emperor would punish me.”

REBECCA MARTIN: Well, it was time. The children were to go one by one before the emperor. They stood in line. Each child carried their bright beautiful flower.

REBECCA MARTIN: ‘Here your majesty’.

REBECCA MARTIN: But the emperor’s face looked something like this: (The storyteller makes scowling faces one after the other)

REBECCA MARTIN: Finally it was Ping’s turn. He couldn’t even look, he was so scared. He just held the pot up like this and waited. The emperor’s face changed. ‘Ha, ha, ha’, he said. I don’t know where the rest of you got your flowers, for the seeds I gave you were boiled. Only Ping had the courage to come before me with an empty pot. Therefore only Ping is worthy to be the next emperor of China.’ The end.

REBECCA MARTIN: So what made Ping the hero?

CHILD: Ping was a hero because he didn’t buy a plant and he didn’t lie to the emperor. He was honest.

REBECCA MARTIN: That’s right which is a wonderful thing and makes you a true hero.

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