The Coming of the King is a delightful morality tale featured in Ms. Richards' collection of stories and poems, The Pig Brother and Other Fables and Stories (1881). Working together to make positive changes and act kindly to others doesn't require a king at all, but the warmth in our hearts can be as golden as a crown!
Camille Pissarro, Children on a Farm, 1887
OME children were at play in their play-ground one day, when a herald rode through the town, blowing a trumpet, and crying aloud, “The King! the King passes by this road to-day. Make ready for the King!”
The children stopped their play, and looked at one another.
“Did you hear that?” they said. “The King is coming. He may look over the wall and see our playground; who knows? We must put it in order.”
The playground was sadly dirty, and in the corners were scraps of paper and broken toys, for these were careless children. But now, one brought a hoe, and another a rake, and a third ran to fetch the wheelbarrow from behind the garden gate. They labored hard, till at length all was clean and tidy.
“Now it is clean!” they said; “but we must make it pretty, too, for kings are used to fine things; maybe he would not notice mere cleanness, for he may have it all the time.”
Then one brought sweet rushes and strewed them on the ground; and others made garlands of oak leaves and pine tassels and hung them on the walls; and the littlest one pulled marigold buds and threw them all about the playground, “to look like gold,” he said.
When all was done the playground was so beautiful that the children stood and looked at it, and clapped their hands with pleasure.
“Let us keep it always like this!” said the littlest one; and the others cried, “Yes! yes! that is what we will do.”
They waited all day for the coming of the King, but he never came; only, towards sunset, a man with travel-worn clothes, and a kind, tired face passed along the road, and stopped to look over the wall.
“What a pleasant place!” said the man. “May I come in and rest, dear children?”
The children brought him in gladly, and set him on the seat that they had made out of an old cask. They had covered it with the old red cloak to make it look like a throne, and it made a very good one.
“It is our playground!” they said. “We made it pretty for the King, but he did not come, and now we mean to keep it so for ourselves.”
“That is good!” said the man.
“Because we think pretty and clean is nicer than ugly and dirty!” said another.
“That is better!” said the man.
“And for tired people to rest in!” said the littlest one.
“That is best of all!” said the man.
He sat and rested, and looked at the children with such kind eyes that they came about him, and told him all they knew; about the five puppies in the barn, and the thrush’s nest with four blue eggs, and the shore where the gold shells grew; and the man nodded and understood all about it.
By and by he asked for a cup of water, and they brought it to him in the best cup, with the gold sprigs on it: then he[14] thanked the children, and rose and went on his way; but before he went he laid his hand on their heads for a moment, and the touch went warm to their hearts.
The children stood by the wall and watched the man as he went slowly along. The sun was setting, and the light fell in long slanting rays across the road.
“He looks so tired!” said one of the children.
“But he was so kind!” said another.
“See!” said the littlest one. “How the sun shines on his hair! it looks like a crown of gold.”
Noli Me Tangere: Ang Lahat Kabanata 1-62 Kabanata 1 Ang Pagtitipon Nakatakdang ganapin sa gabing iyon ang marangyang handaan sa tahanan ni Don Santiago Delos Santos o mas kilala bilang si Kapitan Tiyago. Ang nasabing handaan ay upang magsilbing pasalubong sa isang binatang kagagaling lamang sa Europa, na hindi iba sa Kapitan sapagkat ito ay anak ng kanyang matalik na kaibigan. Ang pagsalubong ay gaganapin sa kanyang bahay sa kalye ng Anluwage. Napuno ng mga panauhin ang tahanan ni Kapitan Tiyago, sapagkat sa lugar na iyon, isang malaking karangalan ang maging panauhin ng Kapitan. Kilala siya bilang taong nabibilang sa mataas na lipunan at matulungin sa mga mahihirap. Si Tiya Isabel na pinsan ng Kapitan ang taga-istima ng mga bisita, at sadyang magkakahiwalay ang mga panauhing babae sa mga lalake. Nagpakahuling dumating ang ibang mga panauhin, kabilang na sina Dr. de Espadaña at ang kabiyak nitong si Donya Victorina. Sa lahat ng mga panauhin ng Kapitan, hindi nagpapa...
(Tagbilaran Bohol – Visayas) It is said that in the early times, the island of Bohol in the Visayas is a vast mass of dry land. Rice fields tend to crack under the heat of the sun. During the rainy season, the dusty land turns into a stream of mud. It is only during the rice season that the fields turn into a refreshing sea of green. It was one day during the rainy season that two giants came into the land of Bohol. One of them was from the north and the other was from the south. Not for long, the two giants met eye to eye. The tension between the two rivals filled the air. "Hey! You ugly giant! Stay away from my land!," said the South Giant. "Leave and look for your own land to conquer!" "You must be mistaken! I am here first!," answered the North Giant. "If you want, you leave!" "This cannot be happening!" shouted the South Giant with a stomp. The whole ground shook. Since it has just rained, the ground was muddy. The giant scooped...
Told by Aaron Shepard Printed in Cricket, January 1993, and Australia’s School Magazine, May 1996 My dearest Arild, I promised to wait for you forever, but I fear I will not be allowed to. My father says you will never return, and he has chosen another man to be my husband. Though I pleaded with him, he has already set the marriage date. I will love you always. Your faithful Thale Arild Ugerup, son of a noble Danish family, sat on his cot, reading the letter by the dim light of his prison cell. How cruel the tricks played by war, he thought, his eyes filling with tears. Though Arild and his family were nobles of Denmark, they had long lived peaceably in Sweden. When King Erik of Sweden was crowned, Arild had been one of his honored guests. But then Denmark and Sweden declared war on each other, and Arild was drafted into the Danish navy. He was captured in battle and imprisoned by King Erik. Arild’s childhood sweetheart, Thale Thott, had promised to marry him when he came back from the...
OME children were at play in their play-ground one
Mga Komento
Mag-post ng isang Komento