The third gift

As sons have been doing throughout the ages, a boy is learning is father’s craft – recognizing the trees that release valuable resin and gathering the round drops, which look almost like pearls. Or tears.

Today is a proud turning point for the boy. They have found a “tear” of unusual size, big enough to fill his two hands. And in the marketplace, three strangers – foreigners – have their own surprising reason for wishing to buy the day’s harvest.