The Old Woman and the Wine Jar
Once upon a time, in a charming Mediterranean town covered with olive trees, there lived an old woman. This woman, who carried the weariness of the years with a sweet smile on her face, had won everyone's love with her cheerful talk. On a warm autumn day she decided to clean the forgotten things in the cellar of her old wooden house. While she was wandering among the dusty shelves, a big jar made of clay standing in a corner caught her eye. The mysterious air surrounding this battered jar at once awoke the woman's curiosity. With slow steps she came up to the jar and wiped the thick layer of dust off it with her hand. When she opened the lid of the jar, a sweet and enchanting smell that had waited inside for years spread out.
Not a single drop of liquid was left inside, but the walls of clay had trapped and kept the old aroma. The woman bent down to grasp the jar with both hands and brought her nose right up to its wide mouth. Taking a deep breath, she drew that delicious, fruity smell down into her lungs. Closing her eyes and remembering the beautiful memories of the past, she began to talk to herself. "Ah, what a wonderful and rich smell this is!" she whispered. "When not a single drop is left inside you, how do you manage to enchant a person so?" "If even your remains are this sweet, who knows how splendid you were in the days when you filled the cups!"
The old woman felt a childlike joy at this moment of happiness that the empty jar offered her. She had discovered again in this vessel of clay the craft of old times and the grace of the past. Instead of thinking the jar was of no use any more and throwing it away, she set it in the loveliest corner of the cellar. For the worth of things that keep their soul even after losing their substance does not fall to time. From that day on, every time she went into the cellar she went on drawing in that lovely smell and smiling. True beauty and quality never lose their trace, even when years have passed over them. The noble never degenerates, honey never spoils.