The Young King : Part 2

This was the young King's dream:

He is in a horrible, dark building. There is a terrible smell, the small

windows have bars and not much sunlight can enter. But in the poor light

the young King sees lots of people working. They are making cloth. They

are very thin. Their faces are hungry and their hands tremble because they

are tired. Pale, ill children sit in the dark corners of the room. The young

King watches them.

A man speaks to him angrily and asks, "Why are you watching me? Are

you my master's spy?"

"Who is your master?" asks the young King.

"A man like me, but I have poor clothes and I am very hungry. He wears

beautiful clothes and is very rich. We work for him all day. We make wine

and he drinks it. We work on the land but he eats the food. We are his

slaves."

"But this is a free land," says the young King. "You are no man's slave."

"In war, weak men are the slaves of strong men. In peace, poor men are

the slaves of rich men."

"Are you all slaves?"

"Yes, the women and the children. The old and the young."

Suddenly the young King sees the cloth on the machine. It is gold. The

young King is terrified. "You are making some very beautiful gold cloth.

What is it?"

"It is for the coronation robe of the young King," the man replies.

When the young King heard this he screamed and woke up. But then he

saw the yellow moon at the window and soon slept again. He had another

dream.

This was his second dream:

He is on a long boat. The sun is very hot and a hundred slaves are rowing

the boat and working. The master of the boat is giving orders: he is black

like ebony and has a red silk turban on his head. In his ears he has big

silver earrings. Someone is whipping the slaves while they work.

Finally the boat arrives in a small bay and the master throws the anchor

and a long rope ladder into the sea. Some men take the youngest slave.

They tie a heavy stone to him and throw him into the sea. The young slave

disappears into the water but returns to the boat many times. Every time he

returns he has a beautiful pearl in his hand. The master of the ship looks at

the pearls and puts them into a little green bag.

The young slave returns to the boat for the last time. He is very pale and

tired. In his hand he has a very beautiful pearl. The pearl is round and white

like the moon. But the young slave's ears and nose are full of blood. He falls

and dies but the master of the boat laughs. He takes the pearl from the young

slave's hand and the other slaves throw his dead body into the sea. "This

pearl is for the scepter of the young King," he says.

When the young King heard this he screamed and woke up but he saw the

stars at the window and soon slept again.

This was his third and last dream:

He is in a tropical forest. It is full of strange fruit and beautiful,

poisonous flowers. There are snakes in the grass, parrots in the trees and

monkeys and peacocks all around. The young King sees lots of men

working in a dry river. They are digging the ground and cutting big rocks

and stones.

Death and Avarice are in a dark cavern. They are also watching the men.

Death says to Avarice, "Give me one third of your men," but Avarice refuses.

"No! They are my servants," she says.

Death is very angry when he hears this. He sends Malaria to kill one

third of the men.

"What have you got in your hand?"

Death asks. "Three grains of corn. But why are you interested?" she asks.

Death says, "Give me one grain of corn to plant in my garden." But Avarice

replies, "No, it is my corn," and she hides the corn in her pocket.

Again, Death is very angry when he hears this and calls Fever. Fever

comes in a red robe like fire, he touches one third of the men and kills them.

"Now give me a grain of corn for my garden," says Death.

"No, never!" replies Avarice. Death is extremely angry and calls Plague.

Plague arrives from the sky, flying like a bird and kills the rest of the men.

Avarice screams and runs into the forest. Death takes his red horse and rides

away, fast like the wind. And then dragons and terrible monsters come out

of the rivers and the valleys.

The young King cries and says, "Who were those men? What were they

doing?"

"They were looking for rubies for a king's crown," replies a voice behind

him. The young King turns and sees a man in white. This man has a mirror

in his hand.

"Which king?" he asks.

"Look in this mirror and you will see the king," replies the man in white.

He sees his face in the mirror screams and wakes up. He sees the sun

shining at his window. It is his coronation day.