Page 49 - BB_Textbook

The old man bowed deeply and said, “Your Majesty, serving you is reward enough.” But the King persisted. “Tell me what you desire? For I insist.” And the man repeated, “Your Majesty, serving you is reward enough.” Back and forth, they conversed. The King grew frustrated and the old man remained calm.
Then the old man saw a marble chessboard in the King’s court. He politely relented, “Very well, Your Majesty, I have one request.” Pointing to the chessboard, he said, “For my reward, tomorrow give me one grain of rice for the first square on the board; the next day, for the second square, two grains of rice; and each following day, for each square of the board, give me twice the number of grains of the square before it.”
The King muttered to himself. “One, two, four, eight, sixteen ... for all sixty-four squares ... hmm.” Thinking quickly, the King figured this might add up to a pound of rice. He wasn’t sure. As the King, he could, of course,
ask one of his Royal Scholars. But he did not want to lose face. So he asked no one. The King told the old man, “Your request is granted.”
The next morning, making fun of the old man, the King sent his Granaries Superintendent in a royal garment. The Superintendent carried a single grain of rice on a gleaming silver tray to present to the old man, who politely thanked the Superintendent, and placed the grain on the first square of his wooden chessboard. Hearing this, the King did the same, placing one grain on the first square of his marble chessboard.
This routine continued for days, but the King placed just one grain on each successive square to mark the days one- by-one. Meanwhile, the old man received and recorded two grains of rice for the second square, four grains for the third, eight for the fourth ... five hundred twelve grains for the tenth day ... sixteen thousand three hundred eighty- four grains on the fifteen day ... and so on.
Each day, the old man gave the pouches ... and then bags ... and then wagons of rice that he received to the hungry people of the kingdom. Each day a stream of shouting
children would follow the King’s servants, for they knew the old man would kindly give them food.
The Superintendent grew worried. But he had no authority to approach the King. For the King, alone, could summon the Superintendent. He allowed no one to summon him.
And so wagon-by-wagon, ton-by-ton, this daily delivery
of larger and larger quantities of rice continued. Finally, on day thirty, the King saw swarms of people following
his Superintendent to the hut of the old man. He grew concerned. On day thirty-five, the King was deeply troubled for his storehouses and wealth were being depleted. Only then did he consult his Royal Scholars. They carefully explained to the King just how much rice he would need to deliver by day sixty-four.
Very humbled, the chastened King asked the old man, “Can you modify your request?” The King—on the verge of bankruptcy—asked that the old man demand no more rice.
Step One. Square up. Brainstorm. Complete the story with three classmates.
1. First, imagine the possible endings to this story.
2. How much rice is at stake. If the old man were to insist on continued rice payments until the sixty-fourth day— the last square on the chessboard—how much rice would that be?
3. What is the cost of keeping the King to his solemn
word? In Grade 10, when you read One Grain of Rice, you calculated rice payments up to the thirtieth day— 536,870,912 grains, enough to fill storehouses. Take this calculation 34 squares further—to day sixty-four.
4. Relative to Vietnam’s annual yield of rice, how much
rice could the old man insist upon? Research Vietnam’s typical yield. How many grains to a kilogram? How many kilos to a ton? How many tons of rice? Is your calculated total more or less than an average annual yield?
5. Recall your Receptive activities above. How are common people to approach a ruler?
6. Consider, too, how relationships can change. You saw this in the short video, “The Present.”
7. Even if the old man knows he’s right and the King knows the old man is right, can the old man instruct the King? Or is that “out of bounds” behavior?
8. Can a society of people and their ruler aspire to better relations? Or are their roles fixed?
BENDING BAMBOO
IDENTITY | CHAPTER 1 49