Stories & Reflections
Drawing by A. Durer
The kingdom of this world
An old hermit was once invited to visit the court of the most powerful king of those times.
– I envy such a saintly man, who is content with so little – said the ruler.
– I envy Your Majesty, who is content with even less that I – responded the hermit.
– How can you say such a thing, if this entire country belongs to me? – said the offended king.
– For precisely that reason. I have the music of the celestial spheres, I have the rivers and mountains of the whole world, I have the moon and the sun, because I have God in my soul. Your Majesty, on the other hand, has only this kingdom.
The ancestor’s bones
There was a king of Spain who was very proud of his ancestors, and who was known for his cruelty to the weak.
One time, he was walking with his advisers across a field in Aragon, where – years before – he had lost his father during a battle, when he found a holy man searching a large pile of bones.
– What are you doing there? – asked the king.
– Honored greetings, Your Majesty – said the holy man. – When I heard that the king of Spain was coming this way, I resolved to recover the bones of your late father and present them to you. But however hard I search, I cannot find them: they are exactly the same as the bones of country folk, the poor, beggars and slaves.