Story 22: The King and the Boy

One of the kings suffered from a terrible illness better left undescribed. A group of Greek physicians agreed that there was no cure for this disease except the gall of a human being with certain specific traits. The king ordered a search. They found a farmer's son who matched the physicians' description. His father and mother were summoned and satisfied with boundless wealth, and the judge ruled that spilling the blood of one subject was lawful for the king's health. When the executioner moved in, the boy raised his face to the sky and smiled. The king asked him, 'What is there to laugh about at a time like this?' The boy said, 'Children lean on their fathers and mothers, and if wronged they bring their case before the judge and seek justice from the king. But now my father and mother have handed me over to be killed for the trash of this world, the judge has ruled for my death, and the king sees his own welfare in my destruction; I see no refuge except God, mighty and glorious.' To whom can I cry out against your hand? Even from you, before you, I would beg for justice. The king's heart broke at these words, and tears filled his eyes. He said, 'My own death is better than spilling the blood of an innocent.' He kissed the boy's head and eyes, embraced him, gave him immeasurable wealth, and set him free. And they say that within that very week the king was healed. I am still turning over that line an elephant driver once spoke on the bank of the Nile: 'If you knew the state of the ant beneath your foot, you would see it is like your own state beneath the elephant's foot.'