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 stored all the gold
in his vaults and used to spend time every day counting it.
One day while he was counting a stranger came from nowhere
and said he would grant him a wish. The king was delighted and 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 sun rays you will get the golden touch." The king thought he must be
dreaming, this couldn't be true. But the next day when he woke up, he touched
the bed, his clothes, and everything turned 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. Then he sat to have breakfast and the moment he touched the fruit and the
glass of water, they turned to gold. He was getting hungry and he said to
himself, "I can't eat and drink gold." Just about that time his daughter came
running and he 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 gave the wish came again and asked the king if he was happy with his golden
touch. The king said he was the most miserable man. The stranger asked, "What
would you rather have, your 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 wo rth having." The stranger said to the king, "You have become wiser
than before" and he reversed the spell. He got his daughter back in his arms and
the king learned a lesson that he never forget for the rest of his life.
What is the moral of the
story?
1. Distorted values lead to tragedy.
2. Sometimes getting what you want may be a bigger tragedy
than not getting what you want.
3. Unlike the game of soccer where players can be
substituted, the game of life allows no substitutions or replays. We may not get
a second chance to reverse our tragedies, as the king did.
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