Story: The Kindly King

Once upon a time, in a place that still exists but has had many names since the time our story took place, there lived a kind and generous king. He was known far and wide for being sympathetic to the people who lived under his reign, and to anyone who happened to be nearby that he might be able to say hello to or extent a hand. All over the region he was known as a model member of society and leaders around all looked up to him and used him as a model for a good leader. One of the many popular stories that circulated about his kindness was the tale of his gift of the robes from his back to an orphan child who he had seen wandering the streets. He took the child under his arm and put his cloak around their shoulders and said that the palace had an opening for a child to live there, and the orphan child lived and played with his own children on the palace grounds and they grew very close. 

 

One day, many years later, the King sat thinking about how he could better serve the people of his kingdom- what more he could give. His children and the orphan were now grown and they were giving him advice. The orphan jokingly suggested

I mean you’ve given away everything but your eyes, what else more is there to do?

The king knew the orphan was kidding, but the joke stayed in his mind all day and all night. He woke up and found himself determined to give his eyes to someone who needed them. He knew that he couldn’t physically give his eyes away, but he ran into a man on the street who was blind, and lead him around all day, acting as his eyes. 

This became a routine for the kindly king- and his reputation for goodness only grew. 

 

Kind King

Author’s Note:

My notes over the original reading were:

This was another nice story- and I liked the story. If I retold it I may change the ending so the King didn’t have to get his eyeballs taken out but otherwise I liked the lesson and the story

I wanted it to be less morbid at the end, and to have less characters that were reincarnation of someone else, just so it would be a little bit more of a stand alone piece. I also wanted to practice a really short story because usually these are a little bit longer for me. 

 

Story adapted from The King that Saw the Truth