A lesson to a king - Original short story- fiction

giantbear (74)in #busy • 6 years ago

Once upon a time in a land far away, there lived a very wealthy and wise king. He was an extremely good person and everyone in his kingdom loved him very much because he would give them all that they wanted. Not one day went by when he did not try and help someone in some way. He believed that it was good thing to help people and that one day he would be rewarded for all his good deeds.

He could not stand any suffering in his kingdom, and the people in town knew this. They became lazy and did not work hard anymore. They knew that if they struggled even a little bit, the king would help them.

One morning while the king was in town, he saw a young man that worked very hard. This young man worked harder than he had seen anyone work before. He walked over to the young man and started to talk to him.

"You are such a hardworking young man, why do you work so hard? Let me help you, then you could also take a break."

The young man thanked him but firmly said:

"Thank you your majesty, but I prefer to work hard. My father taught me that you can only succeed in life if you work hard. If you work hard to accomplish something then you appreciate it more. One day, all this hard work will pay off."

"You are a very wise young man" the king said. "I wish that more people in this town could think this way."

"Your majesty, if you stop giving and only give to people who actually deserved it, people might not take advantage of you so often" said the young man.

The king knew that the young man had a valid point. When the king went back to his castle, he made an important decision. He wrote a notice and send his guards into town.

The notice read:

Image source

The people in town became very angry, because they now had to work hard. They became so angry at the young man, that they chased him out of town.

The young man was absolutely devastated. He had worked so hard, and now he had nowhere to live. All his hard work to build up his business now went down the drain. He didn't want to make a fool of himself now to go to the king, so he build a little house in the forest and started to grow vegetables to sell in town.

The king was beside himself, but he also knew that the young man was too proud, and that he would not accept any help from the king although he deserved it, so the king made a plan to help the young man without him knowing.

The king took a large rock and placed it in the middle of the road. He hid behind a tree to see who was willing to move the rock out of the road. It was a very large rock and it was difficult to move.

Many people walked around the big rock and did not even try to move the rock as they were too lazy. The king stayed behind the tree and it felt like hours before the young man came past with his wheelbarrow full of vegetables that he was going to sell in town.

The young man stopped in front of the rock, and it took about an hour for him to move the rock out of the way. He was very tired when he finally moved the rock to the side of the road.

Much to his surprise the young man found a small bag full of golden coins under the rock. He was delighted and very happy to have found this money. All of his problems vanished, and he could now live a very peaceful life.

For the very first time in his life, the king also felt really proud of himself. The king felt very accomplished and realized that helping everyone was not the right way to go.

From that day forward the king only gave to those who really deserved it.