Greed

The Greedy King

We all know the story of the greedy king named Midas. He had a lot of gold and the more he had, the more he wanted. He would spend his days in his vaults counting his gold.

One day a stranger appeared and told king Midas he would grant him a wish. The king was delighted and immediately said: “I would like everything I touch to turn to gold.” The stranger asked the king, “Are you sure?” The king replied, “Yes.” So the stranger said, “Starting tomorrow morning, with the first rays of the sun, you will have the golden touch.”

The king thought he must have been dreaming that this couldn’t be true. But the next day when we woke up, he touched the bed and it turned to gold. It was true – everything he touched did turn to gold. He looked out of the window and saw his daughter playing in the garden. He decided to give her a surprise and thought she would be happy. But before he went to the garden, he decided to read a book. The moment he touched it, it turned into gold and he couldn’t read it. He sat down to breakfast and the moment he touched the fruit and the glass of water, they turned to gold. He was hungry and he said to himself, “I can’t eat and drink gold.” Just then his daughter came running into the room and King Midas hugged her and she turned into a gold statue. There were no more smiles left.

The king bowed his head and started crying. The stranger who had granted him the wish appeared again and asked the king if he was happy with his golden touch. The king said he was the most miserable man in the world. The stranger asked, “What would you rather have, food and loving daughter or lumps of gold and her golden statue?” The king cried and asked for forgiveness. He said, “I will give up all my gold. Please give me my daughter back because without her I have lost everything worth having.” The stranger said to the king, “You have become wiser than before” and he reversed the spell. King Midas got his daughter back in his arms and the king learned a lesson that he never forgot for the rest of his life.