Fable: The Greedy King

This is a tale of a certain king from long ago.

In a distant land there was a king who was exceedingly selfish and greedy.

He delighted in acquiring things that no one else possessed, and forbade anyone else from holding what was said to be unique in the world.

If he heard someone was said to be the most beautiful in the world, he took that person as his wife. If he heard someone was the wisest, he summoned that person to his kingdom.

He gathered countless jewels and rare animals from lands across the world.

Yet his heart remained unfulfilled, and he sought ever more—more things, more possessions.

Most of all, he was obsessed with life itself.

He feared death, and found aging and decay a source of shame.

So he commanded all the magicians and alchemists within his realm to create an elixir of immortality. Yet none could succeed.

The king was greatly angered, yet what cannot be done cannot be done.

Still, the king could not bring himself to abandon hope.

Then, a tale of an immortal man reached the king’s ears.

The king rejoiced upon hearing it and summoned the man.

The man explained that he was a high priest from a neighboring kingdom, punished with immortality by divine decree for betraying God and making a pact with the Devil.

The king rejoiced and performed the ceremony of betrayal against God.

And then—what should befall?

God was furious, and the king was cursed with an unending life, unable to die.

Upon the king’s forehead, a terrible mark of divine punishment appeared, and calamity descended upon the land.

The people, suffering under this injustice, rose in revolt and denounced the king.

The king, having become immortal, held himself above all danger, certain that nothing could end his life.

The people, enduring countless torments, punished the king in retribution.

Though death was denied him, his body bore wounds that never healed.

The pain never lessened. Weeping, the king begged for mercy.

Yet no one came to his aid.

By the time the people's hearts had grown clear, the king longed only for death.

But he could not die.

It was the gift bestowed by the divine—granted to him through greed and desire.

To prevent further calamity in the new realm, the king was banished to a distant, forgotten land marked by divine punishment.

Perhaps the king, who never learned to repent, still lives today, lamenting his endless existence.

A king consumed by greed.

The end