(A story for Natalie)
Once upon a time there was a kingdom ruled by a wise king. The people loved the king because he cared about his subjects and always worried about their happiness and well-being. Over the years the kingdom became wealthier and many people’s lives improved, but there remained a lot of work left to do, including helping those who were still poor.
As the king grew older, he began to worry about how the people would be taken care of after he died. The king had many children, both princes and princesses, the oldest a son, Prince Alfred.
Prince Alfred wasn’t loved by the people the way his father was. The prince was lazy and spoiled, and never once went out of his way to help anybody. On many occasions, the king had to scold Prince Alfred for being rude and uncaring toward the people, but the prince did not change his ways.
The king worried that Prince Alfred would behave badly when he someday assumed the throne. The king knew it would not be good for the people to have a ruler who was lazy and arrogant, or, worst of all, did not set a good example for his subjects.
The king thought about this for a long time and decided to test Prince Alfred’s ability to be a good ruler. He called the prince into his chambers and told him, “Alfred, I have something for you.” The prince’s eyes lit up, full of greed, which the king did not like.
“What is it, father? Am I getting a present?” asked Prince Alfred.
“Not exactly,” said the king. “I’m giving you a bag of gold, but you must use it for the good of the people. Report back to me in a month and tell me what you’ve done with the gold.” The prince was disappointed, since he couldn’t use the gold to buy himself something nice. But then an idea came to him and he took the bag of gold without even thanking his father.
A month later, Prince Alfred asked his father to come down to the river. At the pier there was docked a brand-new boat, a hundred feet long and twenty feet tall and made of expensive wood, gold, and jewels. On board were fifty sailors dressed in costly uniforms made of silk.
“Look, father,” said the prince, “I’ve built myself a beautiful boat. The sails are made of silk and the cushions are made of velvet; there’s jade and gold trim and diamonds and other jewels, even on the rudder. The finest tailors in the kingdom made the sailors’ uniforms. Never was there a more magnificent boat in all the world.”
The king’s displeasure was obvious, but he kept his voice calm. “Yes, son, it is a lovely boat, but how does it help the people?”
The prince had expected this question and had a clever answer ready. “Oh, father, whenever the people see this boat, they will marvel at how beautiful it is. They will look at the jewels and gold and silk and smartly dressed sailors, and their pride in seeing this boat on the river shall make them very happy.”
For the next few weeks, the prince sailed the boat up and down the river, but nobody came to the riverbank to marvel at the beautiful boat. Only the occasional crocodile looked at the boat as it passed by.
The prince thought perhaps the people had not heard about the boat, so he had musicians brought on board who played loud music to announce to the people that the prince’s boat was sailing nearby. But still nobody came. He tried shooting off fireworks from the deck of the boat to get the people’s attention. But nobody came. Next, the prince ordered all the other boats removed from the river, so the only boat they’d see was his. Still, nobody came to the riverbank to watch the prince’s boat.
The prince became very frustrated. One day he noticed a little girl standing by the water’s edge watching the boat. “Ah,” said the prince, “my boat has at last caught the attention of the people.” The prince sailed the boat up to the little girl and he called out to her. “Hello, you must be impressed with my boat! Surely, you have never seen one so beautiful!”
The little girl looked closely at the boat and said in a weary voice, “It is a nice boat, but I’m very tired and merely stopped here to rest. I’m on my way to my grandmother’s house. It’s a long trip from my village, but I must go and help her, since she is very sick. Would you consider giving me a ride there in your boat?”
The prince looked closely at the little girl. How dare one of the peasants ask to ride in my boat! he thought. She was barefoot and dressed in rags and he thought she might get his fine boat dirty…but she was, after all, the only person to take notice of his magnificent boat. Hmm, he thought, and maybe her grandmother will be impressed by this fine boat of mine…
While the prince was deciding, the little girl realized it was the prince. She was only a poor girl from a village far away. “Oh my,” she said to herself. “My mother and father would be very angry if they knew I’d asked the prince for a ride on his boat. I better run away quickly before I get myself in trouble.”
Before she could run away the prince yelled over to her. “Very well, little girl! I’ll take you down river to your grandmother’s house!” The sailors had to lower down a long rope in order to lift the little girl onboard. Once she was on the boat, they went down the river toward her grandmother’s village.
The boat was so high above the water that the little girl had a magnificent view of the shore. The musicians played songs and the sailors smartly went about the business of sailing the boat. Having the little girl onboard made the prince very proud of his beautiful boat.
After a while, the boat approached a village on a small island located in the river, one hundred feet from shore. The island was attached to the riverbank by a small wooden footbridge. Suddenly, the prince and little girl noticed a fire on the island.
“Oh my!” yelled the little girl. “My grandmother’s village is on fire and the only bridge to the shore is burning, too! I don’t see any of their boats, either!”
They saw many people running in the village trying to get away from the flames, but they were trapped on the island and couldn’t get off to safety. At first the prince thought he’d order his boat to turn around and sail away, in order to protect it from the flames which were starting to engulf the entire village.
“Please, your highness!” yelled the little girl. “Help the people!”
It was at that moment that the prince realized how terrible a person he’d been. Selfish, rude, and never thinking of anybody but himself. He felt his father’s disappointment as if the king were standing there with him now and had scolded him to his face.
The prince ordered the boat toward the village to help rescue the villagers. When the boat reached the island, he noticed there were too many people trapped in the village to fit them all onto his boat. Also, the boat was too high above the water to quickly get everybody onto it even if there had been enough room. Finally weakened by the flames, the bridge collapsed into the water.
An idea came to the prince and he immediately ordered his sailors to move the boat so one end touched the small island and the other end touched the opposite shore. The boat fit perfectly between the island and the riverbank. But it was too high for the people to get on board.
The prince realized this and ordered the boat sunk, so the villagers could easily climb on board and walk across the boat to reach the riverbank. Everybody on the island, including the little girl’s grandmother, made it to safety. But many of the villagers escaped without any clothes other than the ones they wore, and these were torn and burnt. The prince ordered his sailors to tear down the silk sails and cut up the velvet cushions and use these to make clothes for the people.
Afterwards, the boat was left right where the prince had ordered it sunk, and the prince’s magnificent boat replaced the original footbridge that had burned up in the fire. He ordered the boat stripped of all the gold and jewels and jade, and then used these to pay for new houses to be built on the island.
For years afterwards people came from miles around to see the prince’s boat, which had been used to save the villagers on the island from the fire. The people of the kingdom were very proud of their new king.
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