THE PEASANT KING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1967, 5 November 1891, Page 41

THE PEASANT KING.

By R. K. Monkittbiok,

One day a certain king grew weary of the luxurious life he wai leading, for one by one hii eVety pleasure became monotonous, and i at lait he, knew not what to do to make bu life endurable. „ So he oonoluded that a sure way out; of the trouble would be to find out how other kings had lived before him, and to ascertain what * Accordingly, he ordered a courtier to colleot all the books ootfcerning Icings, both m history and fiotion, and to *cad them aloud to him that he nughtcolWet useful information on the subjaot. , The courtier gathered a great number of these books arid read them aloud to the King, - who still seemed te'be at a loss for information regarding the, details of royal happiness. When -the King had about given up in despair, the courtier came to a»»j Eastern^tory ofa ruler who had found bappmesß by obanging places with a peasant. "That will do," said the King to the courtier: "I have tried almost every other plan to be happy, but without f success. I shall now try to find some peasant in my rftalrn whb would like to be kingi In , all my travels I have noticed how contented the " peasants are. They deem to lack no requirement of earthly happiness; they are always Bulging, even at their work, and I would give anything to be as happy as a peasant." . As the courtier attempted to go on with the story, the King held up his hand for bxih * 0 « ofose the book," said he ; " I shall follow the example of the king in the story. There may be a peasant in my realm who think* triw happiness comes to those in power, antt who could lie induced to exchange his position in life foT mine." ' The courtier protested against such Jan experiment, untiThe thought the wfety of his head wm iovoWed-and then desisted. - < On the following day the. King started out behind four white horses, in his best purple •and golden crown, to exchange places with the happiest man he could find.; ; On an almost deserted road, he espied ia little cabin under sojne large trees that almost screened it from view. As the carnage drejy nearer, the King saw the occupant of the oaten dfrging in' a patch. He seemed aßhappy is the birds that? were singing on every limb j and he himself sang wlnle.be pushed the Bpade into the ground and turned up the soft earth. „ ■ When the carriage stopped the man dropped fais spade and came ;to the , fence.to see whfrfc was wanted. „ ■ „■,,. ' The King stepped down and asked him some Questions regarding the prospeot of .good crops in the country, and then said : « I should be very well contented if I. were •B happy as you are. > ••And I," replied the peasant, "should be "*&!? IPiSaf V a*. »athrew his robes about the man's ahoulderß, arid is your carriage, and these are your servants, who will bear Witness that we have' changed ' daces, and that lam the peasant." ; l!he joy of the new-made king knew; no bounds. He sat" up in the carriage with Ml the dignity of an old king. In his heart he fancied that he must be dreaming, and pinobed his arena, and asked his attendants to stiok pn» in him that he might lie sure he was awake. He thoufehto) his, great power with absolrite glee, and felt supremely happy ;in the knowledge 1 that he' could make the country go Sto waF, and' out off the heads of people who'in any way displeased him. What puzzled him moat was the fact that he bad eyer been happy before, and ha was at a loss to under- ?' Whip up the horses," he told : " I wish [to reach the patece before "ondown. ' . , But, in reality, he feared that the old king mkht have changed his mind, and might ibe ranning along the road to overtake them. { , When he reached the palaoe, there was little J Wtement, as all the inmates knew they were to have a new king, having : been informed tof the nature ? of the old king's mission in the. i morning. ■■ • , J ' That nisht he made up his mind to have; a, . grand banquet such a^ a^"hould haver So he ate a; most »?o«dmafe> quantity of the richest dishes he could , think of , and ha did not stop until almost midnight, when be re"fite waa awakened several times before morning with nightmare, and passed so miserable » night that he was'tired and sleepy when : it was timfliwwise fwthe day.; Whifehe was a peasant and worked hard year m and Lyear out, he had never known any but nights |of • refreshing sleep, j r •• ... ' _ " But; this did not trouble bun much, He concluded that he ;wonld soon become aooustpmed to royal banquets, and that would be the end of sleepless nights. No sooner had he disposed of this trouble than it occurred to him that he *ad J heard that it was a oommbn ■thine for kings to have their food poisoned. Perhaps his i food had been .insufficiently poisoned the night before. In that case the Servant! would make sure to put enough m his coffee. to.kill. him at breakfast. \v This was a terrible reflection, and it harrpwed the King's feelings in a way that they ' fiad never been harrowed oefpre. But he went to 1 his' breakfast, determining that he would not touch the coffee. Then he oonoluded that they might deceive him by putting the peison where he would least ?When he was a peasant he never knew such fear as this. He finished his breakfast m great alarm. His agitation had been so, great that, it srave him a worried,' pale look. , ™'Ij your Majesty well?" asked one of the courtiers. "Why? "said the King. * "Your Majesty certainly looks very ill," replied the courtier^ • . ■ Then the King was satisfied that he waa poisoned. So be threw himself upon a lounge, clasped his hands to his forehead, declared he had been poisoned, and ordered all the servants to be beheaded if he should die. Shortly after, he was satisfied that nothing serious was the matter, and he went out in the garden to take a breath of f reßh air. He , hadn't proceeded far, when he noticed some one following him. His follower was" between him and the palaoe, and he could do nothing but depend upon himself iv case of an attack. No matter where he walked this man followed him, bo he sat down to sea if the straggler would venture nearer. But the man did not j be stood still and watched. The King thought that he could never be Attacked if be allowed his prospective assailant |o toiow tbit he was watched. So be shouted 1

for help. »n<J in an instant a dozen servants were at nis side. " That man yonder is following me to kill me ! " he cried, pointing at the man, who stood near. " No, your Majesty, be is not," replied the spokesman of the servants. "He is the man who follows you as a guard to prevent others from killinc or molesting you." "Is it then so common a thing for kings to be killed in this way, that it .is necessary to have a constant guard?" His servants assured him that such was the Tbiß disturbed his peace of mind to snoh an extent that he began immediatly to question the absolute happiness of being a king. When he returned to tbe palace there were hundreds of people waiting to see him on all kinds of business— people to have petitiona signed, ministers with schemes of every description, so that the King's bead spun, and he 1 didn't have time to think. After he had been a king two weeks he was so' completely undone, physically and mentally, that he regretted the day 1 he had given I up his boveL for a palace. " Perhaps the old king," he thought, " is as tired of my lowly, habitation as I am of his orown. I shall go and, see if he . will exchange place* with me." So the King put on his finest robe and bit orown, as the old, king had previously, done, and. drove away in his grandest carriage. ' ■ '.tit As soon as tbe old king had placed his. orown on the head of the peasant, and had seen him vanish in the distance, be went out where the peasant had been digging and continued the work: After he had worked half an hour all the rheumatic pains, of which he couldn't rid himself as a king, departed. And he sang as merrily as tbe birds in tbe trees, and felt happier every minute. At dinner he had such an appetite tbat he enjoyed every morsel in a way that he had never done during his entire reign. That night he slept as he had never been able' to Bleep while burdened with tbe affairs of his country. He didn't toss about at all, and he did not wake up until the sun was high. Then be hurried down and bad his breakfast while the birds hopped about the door, or sang in the rose-bush by the window. "■-** Tarn as happy as racking is Bupposed to be,"he oried, "and I should be happy to know that the present king, poor fellow, would .eyer^ be as contented as I am now." \ , ' And the old king worked on in perfeot contentment for days, feeling safe from the conBpiraoies of enemies, and^on thereat of terms with his Jp>n; o.qnscienc^i &> 'hate, b,,e .was indeedsrhappy,man. ■ ■>] \ ;. , l . >nv ' Ttfe garden was progressing finely ; and the new occupant grew happier every day, and Baw nething but sunshine. This continual flow of happiness was never disturbed^unj)Hr cne night when the King PeasanTabad , &

terrible nigltmare^C^Hel?awo'K agitated and in a cold perspiration— V/s \ < He hadPdreamed that hf was'a king'again !' He hastily arose and lighted a candle to take a look at the surroundings, to make sure that he was not in a palace and waa not a king & He was afraid to go to^leep for fear the dream might be repeated. .That -very day, .when* he was working and' wingWUu the gardens he saw a grieat dus*b d6wn the road ; and in a few moments the oarriage of the King stopped at the gate. wiSM *Hw : & tbWgarden getting-on ? " wid the new King. , , '• „ "Splendidly." , " Would you not like to give me my hovel back in exchange for your palace and crown ? " £*I could not think of it ! " said the old king. " You must go to some one who has never been a king, if you want to make such an exchange. If you j go on a little further down the road, you may find some man who would be glad to wear a orown," • "So the new King drove down the road, and asked the. first labourer be met if he would like to be a king. ~. " No," replied the labourer ; " I was a king for a few dayß, and that waa enough for me ; I traded off my crown for this shovel and pickaxe, because the king who had given it to me for a small but refused to trade baok," . The King rode on ; and muoh to his surprise every man he met refused the unhappy monarch's offer to make him a king; each .one stating as his reason that he had already been a king for a greater or leas period. . It seems that every man in the kingdom had worn the orown at one time or another, and that the King, who was trying to exchange places with the humblest being in the realm, was simply the last man in the land to get it. Thus it was that the nation was filled with people who found the greatest happiness in the humblest spheres of life, and learned to be content without nursing an ambition to ba great or powerful. The Peasant King had to rule all h» life, for no one would exchange. And when he was bent and tottering with age, he would go to the bridge that commanded the main avenue of his domain, with an umbrella held over him to keep off the sun and rain, and:peraiitently offer his orown to every passer-by But no one would accept it !— St, Nicholas.