Several hundred years back, there lived a very strong and ambitious king. He had assembled a very powerful army, with the help of which he had built a huge empire. The most important part of this army was his cavalry – brave soldiers who rode on excellent horses. He himself would lead this army, moving around on a very special horse, whose speed was the envy of all. But being extremely ambitious, he was not satisfied even with such a fine horse. He would often dream of teaching this horse how to fly – so that those whom he was conquering would be mesmerized into surrendering meekly. But he knew this was only a dream, and could not be converted into reality.
Being a strong and ambitious person, he ruled over his subjects with an iron hand, dispensing justice without mercy. One day, a man accused of a crime was brought before him. Without too much investigation, the king concluded that he was guilty and ordered his execution. There being no way of appealing against this judgment, the man accepted his fate. But, as he was being led away, he let it be known to his captors that he had a special skill – he knew how to make a horse fly. Knowing how much the king was keen on having his horse learn to fly, this information was conveyed to the king by one of the soldiers. The king immediately ordered the man brought before him, and asked:
‘Is it true that you can teach a horse how to fly?’
‘Yes, your majesty, this is a special talent the Lord has bestowed on me’, he answered, with his head bowed.
‘I order you to use your special talent and teach my horse how to fly’, the king commanded
.
‘Your wish is my command, your majesty’, the man replied. ‘The only problem is, this learning process will take time, but I am going to be hanged today itself.’
“How long will it take?”, asked the king.
“One full year, your majesty. Every day, it will look like the horse has learnt nothing, but suddenly, after the year is over, you will see him flying.”, replied the man.
The king ordered that his execution be postponed by one full year, at the end of which he would be pardoned if the horse really starts flying. The man was then duly escorted out of the palace and set free. He started walking home in the company of a friend who had accompanied him.
When they were out of the earshot of the palace guards, his friend looked at him gravely, and said:
“What have you done? I know you have no such talent as you claimed to have. So, an year from now, you are going to be exposed as a fraudster. The king will be hopping mad at the trick you have played on him, and will have you killed in the most torturous manner. I shudder to think of you being trampled by one of his elephants, or, even worse, your body being torn apart limb by limb.”
The man answered:
“You are a true friend, my dear, so worried about what may happen to me an year from now. Special thanks for not telling anyone out there that I do not have that talent. They would have tortured me to death right away. Now, it will not happen for a full year. And, my friend, never forget that an year is a long time. Who knows what may happen in an year? The king might die, and with a new king at the helm this whole episode could be forgotten by everyone. Or, I might die – a natural and peaceful death. Or, who knows, the horse might even learn to fly! Let us not worry about what might happen an year from now and thus deprive ourselves of the great pleasure of being alive today. Let us learn to live in this moment and enjoy every bit of it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment