The Dishonest Minister
The Dishonest Minister
Once there lived a king named Henry with his wife Hazel. The king was kind and content with everything they had but there was one thing that perturbed Henry was that he did not have an heir.
The king was sitting in his orchard one fine day, when a fairy appeared before him. Before he could say anything the fairy said 'My king, I have been observing you for quite some time what seems to ail you.' The still astonished king replied' Oh dear fairy it is that I have no heir.' 'My king I grant you to have a child in two months' was the fairy's reply and with that she flew off.
Meanwhile, the minister that the king had trusted the most had overheard and instead of being happy he was actually really angry. He had wanted to be the next king but now the king would have an heir. He decided to plot against the king.
Two months later the kingdom rejoiced like never before, as the queen had given birth to a handsome boy with eyes as blue as the sky named Harry. The wicked minister was outraged now as he thought that the stupid fairy's words wouldn't have come true. He decided that it was time to take action now.
The next day, he stole the baby and took him deep into the forest. When he went back to the castle he saw everyone in panic and as he was trying to act normal when he was asked and said that he saw a hound take him.
The king was devastated on hearing this piece of news and immediately sent his messengers to every corner of the kingdom. But the evil minister thought that the child might be found so he told the king that he was wasting his time and effort as the hound would have eaten him by now.
18 long years had passed since the abduction of the young prince. Even the king had now given up hope on finding his child. On the other hand, the prince was alive and had learnt the truth. He was determined to confront his parents.
It so happened that the king went hunting in the same forest as where his child was. When he passed by the prince immediately realized that it was his dad so he ran across and stopped the king. Unfortunately, the minister was also there and he told the king to send him to the dungeons.
The king not knowing it was his child he trusted his minister and sent him off but he didn't notice the eyes as blue as the sky. The prince pleaded but the king was not ready to hear a word.
A few days later when the king went to check on his prisoners in the dungeons he noticed the blue eyes. He just couldn't possibly mistake those eyes and he started firing questions at the young prince.
After asking him questions, what he had learnt horrified him. His most trusted minister had deceived him all the way through. He immediately ordered his guards to take him out of the dungeons.
Soon he summoned the minister to his court and rapidly asked him questions and did not even bother for the wicked minister's reply. He soon sent him into the tower of death.
The moral of this story is- Never be greedy and always remember that "Honesty Is The Best Policy"