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 worth 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.
