Elixir Stone and Iron Merchant

Once there lived an iron merchant. He used to trade through import and export of raw iron and finished goods. On a lovely morning, a sage knocked at door of his house. The merchant happily welcomed him and provided him tasty delicacies to eat. The sage got impressed with such a courteous behaviour. While leaving, the sage said, "I am very happy with your courteous behaviour and respect you have shown to me. I want to give a souvenir in return. You can use it as you wish but I will come back after a month and will take back my souvenir." Saying this, he took out an elixir stone (generally believed to turn iron to gold) and handed over to the merchant.

The merchant got very happy. He used to deal with iron on regular basis as a part of his job. It was as if he got a lottery. Now he can turn any amount of iron to gold as per his wish. He immediately called into the iron warehouse and asked for the current price of raw iron. On that day, the prices had gone a bit too high. The merchant thought, 'Hmm, I think I should wait till tomorrow. Maybe the price will come down.'

Next day, the merchant asked for the price of iron. It had gone even further up. The merchant again thought to wait for one more day. (Well what further should I say. You can guess it too!!! :P )The merchant kept waiting and the price of iron kept on rising.

On another beautiful morning, the merchant heard knock on the door. When he opened the door, he felt stunned to see the sage back. The sage asked the merchant to return back his elixir stone. The merchant felt as if there is complete darkness in front of his eyes. He started pleading for some more time. But the sage was firm and said, "I gave you this magical stone out of my kindness. You could have converted as much iron to gold as you wished. But you just kept delaying it. Before leaving, I want to give you a much more priceless suggestion. Like you wasted this opportunity, don't waste your life. Each breath you have is a priceless opportunity given to you. Make it successful. Else one day you will find that you wasted all your breaths just like you wasted this opportunity." Saying this the sage took his elixir stone and went away.