The Beggar's Rags
A beggar lived near the king's palace. One day he saw a
proclamation posted outside the palace gate. The king was
giving a great dinner. Anyone dressed in royal garments was
invited to the party. The begar was on his way. He looked at
the rags he was wearing and sighed. Surely only kings and
their families wore royal robes, he thought. Slowly an idea
crept into his mind. The audacity of it made him tremble.
Would he dare?
He made his way back to the palace. He approached the
guard at the gate. "Please, sire, I would like to speak with the
king." "Wait here," the gaurd replied. In a few minutes, he was
back. "His majesty will see you," he said, and led the beggar in.
"You wish to see me?" asked the king.
"Yes, your majesty. I want so much to attend the banquet, but
I have no royal robes to wear. Please, sir, if I may be so bold,
may I have one of your old garments so that I, too, may come
to the banquet?"
The beggar shook so hard that he could not see the faint smile
that was on the king's face. "You have been wise in coming to
me," the king said. He called to his son, the young prince. "Take
this man to your room and array him in some of your clothes."
The prince did as he was told and soon the beggar was standing
before a mirror, clothed in garments that he had never dared hoped
for. "You are now eligible to attend the king's banquet tomorrow
night," said the prince. "But even more important, you will never
need any other clothes. These garments will last forever. "Oh,
thank you," he cried.
But as he started to leave, he looked back at his pile of dirty rags
on the floor. He hesitated. What if the prince was wrong? What
if he would need his old clothes again... Quickly he gathered them
up. The banquet was far greater than he had ever imagined, but he
could not enjoy himself as he should. He had made a small bundle
of his old rags and it kept falling off his lap. The food was passed
quickly and the beggar missed some of the greatest delicacies.
Time proved that the prince was right. The clothes lasted forever.
Still the poor beggar grew fonder and fonder of his old rags. As time
passed people seemed to forget the royal robes he was wearing.
They only saw the little bundle of filthy rags he clung to wherever he
went. They even spoke of him as the old man with the rags.
One day as he lay dying, the king visited him. The beggar saw the
sad look on the king's face when he looked at the small bundle of rags
by the bed. Suddenly the beggar remembered the prince's words and
he realized that his bundle of rags had cost him a lifetime of true
royalty.
He wept bitterly at his folly. And the king wept with him.
Author Unknown
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