Pearls

A raindrop fell from a spring cloud, and, seeing the wide expanse of the sea, was shamed. "Where the sea is", it reflected, "where am I? Compared with that, forsooth, I am extinct". While thus regarding itself with an eye of contempt, an oyster took it to its bosom, and fate so shaped its course that eventually the raindrop become a famous royal pearl.

Bostan or The Orchard, a Persian Poem of the thirteen century composed by Sa'di.