PagineOn Giving and Taking
by Kahlil Gibran
From The Madman (1918)
Once there lived a man who had a valley-full of needles. And one day the mother of Jesus came to him and said: "Friend, my son's garment is torn and I must needs mend it before he goeth to the temple. Wouldst thou not give me a needle?"
And he gave her not a needle, but he gave her a learned discourse on Giving and Taking to carry to her son before he should go to the temple.
This poem is in the public domain. Source text: Project Gutenberg.