Evening star., 1916-07-09
The Fable Of a Certain King Who
Sought New Pleasure

And behold, though the King possessed everything
that money could buyhouses and lands and cattle and
automobiles, and servants-he weary of life. For
he said, There is no pleasure in it,
And he proclamation and caused it to be pub
lshed in his dominons that whoever would invent
pleasure for his amusement should receive the hand
of his daughter in marriage.
Thereupon appeared young who bowed low and
said: 20 King live forever. l have invented
pleasure; but to enjoy it you must do precisely l
say"
Whereupon the King heart was very glad He smiled
upon the young man and promised
The morning the young early at the
palace and had the King out Of bed before daybreak,
and the princess and all the little princes
Together they journeyed long way by foot and
street-car into the country They wonderful sight
in the sky, and the young man explained to the King
that it called sunrise They passed brooks, and
the princes took off their shoes and stockings and waded
in them They wandered through cool woods and picked
flowers
Finally, at about the middle of the day. the King
said: "I have strange feeling under my belt which
have felt before" And the young answered
and said: "That, your Majesty, is called hunger You
have never had it because you got enough fresh
air into your system before to create it."
And the little princess oo began to cry out that they
also had queer feelings under their belts
Whereupon the young man produced a large basket
covered with white CLOTH and opened it. And behold
there sandwiches, and fruits and olives, and cold
chicken and coffee in tin bucket and cake, and divers
other foods, all daintiy packed.
And the King could not restrain his hand but dove in
and ate for half an hour more and then lay under the
trees and looked up at the sky and smoked.
And the princes raced about the woods and played
Indian, and no watched them bade them
nay; for there nothing they could possibly harm
And toward nghtfall they journeyed back to the
palace; and the little princess who had always to be pam
pered and read to at night to get them to sleep, fell
asleep their beds with their clothes And the King
having had bath and rundown, settled back the
royal piazza with 5Ocent cigar in his mouth, and smiled
for the first time in months and called for the young
And the young appeared and said: "Your
Majesty, it day. it not?" And the King
admitted it
"Thou hast made good" saith the King, "and my
daughter, the beautiful princess, inside the piano
But first, give the bill for this wonderful pleasures
for will pay for it."
And the young man handed him bill for dollar
and twenty three cents
Whereupon the King exceeding wroth, and cried
out: "Dost think cheap skate? Is pleasure
that costs only dollar twentythree fit for Kng?"
And he called the Captain of the Guard and ordered
that the young should be shot sunrise.
MoraE You and l had peachy times, when we
kids those old picncs with sandwiches that the
ants crawled and coffee full of pine needles But
wouldn't dare take our kids pcnic-perish the
thought. The neighbors would think were cheap
skates
Pack up the dinner-coat, mother. We're off to At
antc City with the years savings.