The Beloved Pot

The Parable of the Broken Pot is an Ai-Naidari parable and has many versions. This version of the Parable of the Broken Pot first appeared in chapter twelve of Black Blossom.

"Reck this: Once there was an aridkedi, a country merchant whose pots were of such astonishing quality that she alone would serve for her small town; they would have no one else. Among one of her many virtues was her promise to mend any pot that cracked, for so great was her skill that her pots did not often break and when they did, if they could not be fixed, she offered a replacement."

"One day, an Ai-Naidari came to her with a broken pot and requested that she mend it. The aridkedi took it in her hands and examined it carefully, then said, ‘If I mend this pot, it will break again, for the break is in a bad place. Allow me to replace this pot for you instead.’"

"But her patron would not hear of it. ‘I am fond of this pot and want no other,’ he said. ‘Please, mend this one.’"

"’I can mend this pot,” the aridkedi said. ‘But it will never bear weight again.’"

"’Then I will make sure it is never subjected to any stresses that might break it,’ the other said. ‘For I love this pot, and I will not replace it.’"

"So it came to pass that the aridkedi mended the pot, and the Ai-Naidari took it away with him and set it on a shelf, and never again used it to bear weight, and indeed he cherished it and looked upon it every day."

"He also returned several days later and bought a pot that could bear weight."

"This is the tale of the broken pot. Reck it well."