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The old chief chooses a successor.

 　　In Africa, an old tribal chief was critically ill. Hoping to personally choose his successor, he held a selection process among the tribe's young men, ultimately selecting three very talented individuals.

　　The old chief wanted to determine the truly suitable candidate from among them. He told the three young men, "I never allow anyone to climb our tribe's sacred mountain, but today, I will have you climb to the summit from different directions and then return to tell me about the view. Of course, the first one to return from the summit will become the new chief."

　　The three young men then began climbing towards the summit from different directions. Halfway up, the first young man thought, "Since the three of us are climbing separately and no one is watching, why should we be so honest and insist on reaching the top?" With that thought, he climbed less than a hundred meters before running back down the mountain. He went to the old chieftain and said, "Old chieftain, I've reached the top! I saw mountain springs, big trees, and lots of flowers. The scenery is so beautiful!" The old chieftain nodded without saying anything. Half an hour later, the second young man also returned. In fact, he hadn't reached the top either, but he pretended to be excited and said to the old chieftain, "Old chieftain, I've reached the top! There are tall pine trees and huge rocks there, and several large vultures are perched on the rocks. They scared me to death..."

　　The old chieftain shook his head and still said nothing. As night fell, the third young man still hadn't returned. Just as everyone was worrying about him, he staggered back, looking dejected. He said to the old chieftain, "Old chieftain, the mountaintop is just an empty flat ground, without even a small pebble. I really don't know what scenery I can describe to you." Unexpectedly, the old chieftain smiled happily and said, "Good boy, you are our new chieftain."

　　It turned out that there really was nothing on the mountaintop. He had asked the three young men to climb to the top not because he wanted to know the scenery, but because he wanted to know who was truly sincere.

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