The Brothers, Porce and Lain
by Eric F
Way back in ancient times there were two men. These men were
great inventors. One of them was Porce, and the other was Lain
. They were men of talent Porce was an artist; he loved to make
fine art and Lain was a painter. Together they were great inventors.
One day in the fall, Porce woke up with great excitement on his
face. Lain woke up also with great excitement and happiness on
his face, too. Lain started to hjhjhj, "Oh Porce, I had the
best dream, but all I can remember we had something that everyone
loved and used."
"What was it, Lain," asked Porce.
"Well, it held anything you wanted, liquid or solid. It could
come in all different sizes and shapes," replied Lain.
The brothers wondered how to make it. But they first started to
eat their . After that they thought for hours, meditating in the
woods. . Then it started to rain, the men ran inside and immediately
took off their muddy shoes.
The next , as Lain was going outside to do his daily practice
of T'ai Ji, he picked up his shoes and noticed the hard clay at
the bottom of his shoes. That sparked hundreds of ideas and Lain
and Porce started to work on their container, which was soon to
become porcelain.
The first container they made didn't work. They took wet dirt
and molded it to a cylinder shape. Then when it was hard, it held
its shape. But when the two men put water into it, it just turned
back into mud. The two men tried hundreds ways, but none of them
worked. Many months later when summer came, Lain was starting
to give up. Porce wouldn't let him give up. They worked and worked
so hard, until Fall into mid-summer, Porce molded a pot in the
morning, as the sun was coming up and placed it on a rock in the
direct sunlight. Towards the end of the day, the pot was holding
its shape. After Porce finished his lunch of rice, he went out
to see how his last container was doing. He touched the pot and
it was steaming hot. He let it rest over night to cool down.
When Porce woke up the next day he went to touch the pot. He was
very careful to see if it was still hot and ready to crumble.
He then put water into it and it did not turn into mud. He was
excited, he ran to Lain so quickly and told him of his success.
Then Lain dumped out the water and started to paint the pot with
great care in his decoration. Afterward, Porce and Lain made hundreds
of containers in many different shapes, sizes and colors. The
containers became a success and people came from everywhere for
the wonderful pots. Porce and Lain needed a name for their invention
and so they named it after themselves, Porcelain.
Porce and Lain kept on trying and learned that even if you fail,
you should have the courage to keep on trying. So I will tell
you this. The glory is not in ever failing, but in ris ing
every time you fall.