A wise
king was once travelling around his kingdom in disguise. He was accompanied
only by his charioteer. While travelling he was getting acquainted with the
ground conditions of his kingdom.
In due
course, he was crossing an uninhabitated stretch of land, where his chariot got
stuck in loose soil or mud, the more the charioteer tried to make his way out
of the mud, the more the wheel sank deeper into it.
Finally
the King had to disembark and try to push the chariot out of the mud, but with
little success. Both the King and his charioteer had by now begun sweating profusely,
due to the efforts put in to get the chariot out.
Even
after much effort and time they were unable to make much headway in the task at
hand. It was getting late now and soon it would become dark and both the King
and charioteer were getting anxious about what they would be doing if night
were to fall before they could get out of this situation. As the surroundings
were uninhabitated and there was fear of wild animals also.
The
king noticed that two people were coming out of the nearby forest and coming
towards him at a rapid pace, suddenly he started feeling a lot easier and
hailed out to the duo to come and help him take the chariot out of the mud. But
to his surprise the men were not very keen to help him out, they were more
eager to return home before nightfall. The King was very disappointed, and was
fast beginning to lose hope that he would be able to get out before nightfall.
But not
long after, he saw a group of four young men coming his way. The King called
out to them and pleaded to them to help him out. The foursome agreed and joined
the King & his charioteer in taking the chariot out of the mud. With some
effort they were successful in pulling out the chariot out of the mud.
The
King was very pleased and thanked the four young men profusely. The four asked
the King who he was and what he was doing in this lonely stretch at that time.
The King felt so indebted to these young men
that he decided to reveal his identity to them, the young men were also very
pleased to meet the King in person, but the King was a bit uncomfortable that
he could not reward these young men as he was not carrying any valuables with
him, not even the jewellery that he normally wore.
So the
King asked the four to come down to his palace some time, so that he could
thank them properly for their kind act. An then he took leave of the four
friends and hurried towards the next stop in his itinery.
The
four friends were very excited with the King’s invitation. And they immediately
started preparations for their visit to the capital and the King’s palace.
After a few days they started their journey to
the capital to visit the King. Upon their arrival, they were given a grand
welcome by the King, who introduced them to all his courtiers and gave the
seats close to his throne, the four friends were feeling overwhelmed by the
reception given to them, after refreshments and conversation the King told the
four friends, in front of his court, that he would grant each one of them ONE
wish, and that they could ask for anything. The four friends were in disbelief
as to their good fortune.
The
first young man told the King that there was no road to his house, and asked
the King if a road could be constructed.
The
King readily granted this wish and ordered that work on the road be started
immediately.
Now it
was the turn of the second young man, who told the King that the house that he
and his family lived in was in a state of disrepair, and asked the King if he
could be helped out in this matter.
The King immediately ordered that a new house be built for
the young man.
The third young man told the King that he was
an eligible bachelor and was in search for a suitable bride, he asked the King
if he could help him in his search.
The
King immediately ordered that a bride be searched for him.
Now it
was the turn of the fourth young man, he was in a fix, he also did not
have a proper house, there was no road
to his house and was not married.
So what
did he ask for?
He told the King that he was
satisfied with whatever he had and had nothing in particular to ask for, but he
would really be happy if the King stayed with him at his house for a month.
Moral: We are like the first three young men, we keep asking
GOD, we want this, if we got that it would be so nice.
But we should be like the fourth young man, by asking for
the King himself he got whatever the other three had wished for, If the King
stayed at his house, there would naturally be road to it, and naturally it had
to be a good house if the King were to stay in it, and if he were to stay for a
month then it would be having all other comforts…………….
