Robert Finch
Apr 11, 2002
Honors English 3rd hour
A long, long time ago there was a kingdom, and the king of this kingdom held a contest which all men in his kingdom far and wide could participate in. This contest attracted the attention of a young farmer who dreamt of someday leaving his village and making a name for himself. He heard a traveler talking about it and his mind was set, so the next day he set off from his humble shanty with a gleam in his eye and a bounce in his step towards the castle. The young man traveled five days and by noon of the sixth day his destination was in sight. He entered the city and stayed the night at a small inn not far from the castle gates.
On the morning the contest began, he made his way to the castle. The gates were open wide, and in the courtyard stood all the men who would take part in the contest. After some time had passed, drums began to play, and trumpets sounded. The king walked out into the midst of all of them and began to speak. This is what he said: "All of you are probably here for a chance at fame or possibly just the prize you get for being victorious in this little game of my design. All of you can win this contest and all of you can lose, but those who win will receive a great and priceless reward. There are three conditions that must be met if you desire to play this game. The first is that you sign your name on this scroll before you leave the castle. The second is that you take one seed, and one seed only, from the grail at the center of this place. The third is that you plant this seed and in three and one-half months return with the fruit that grows from the tree that will stand where once there was only a small seed. Do not be discouraged, for these seeds are magical and will within the course of two months have become a mighty tree and on the first day of the third month they will bear golden fruit. Good fortune to you all, that is all I have to say." With that he made his way back to the castle.
The young man did as was required and made his way home as quickly as he could—and there he planted the seed in the finest soil he knew of. He cared for the tree day and night and not very often did the spot where he had planted it leave his eye. After two weeks had passed, he began to worry because the seed had not yet sprouted, but he decided to keep trying and have faith that the seed would grow like the king said it would. Another two weeks passed and there was still no sign of growth, but there was plumage near the area he planted the seed, so the young man carefully moved the soil away from where he had placed it to see if it was still there. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was undisturbed and covered it up again very slowly and gently.
Three months had passed and still there was nothing, and now he knew for sure that he could never win the contest no matter what he did. It was now a week until the day he was meant to return to the castle and show the great result of all his efforts, but he had nothing. Even so, he decided to return to the castle and see the champion of the contest and the prize he received. He arrived at the castle the scheduled day of return and awaited the appearance of the king. While he was waiting, he looked around to see how others had fared in their attempt to fulfill the third condition of the contest. Some had brought in fruit of great size and beauty, others just the opposite, and others were somewhere in between, but they all had something while he had nothing at all. After some time had passed the king stepped forward as he had done before, and once again he began to speak. He said, "Line up, all of you, and present to me that which is required."
All of them did as they were ordered and the king, going from left to right, looked at what they brought him. When he had checked all of them, he again spoke, "All but one of you has lost today because you were dishonest with me. Those seeds were not magical; none of the fruit you have shown me came from a tree that grew from one of those seeds. Those of you who have tried to deceive me may leave, but the one who has shown me loyalty even though I tried to trick him may now speak with me." The young man slowly made his way to the king, and there the king gave him his prize. "I have lived a long life, but I have no heir to the throne. This contest was to show not only me, but also those around you, and especially yourself, that which is latent within you. I needed someone honest and goodhearted. Now I have found him." Then he made the decree to all who were present who this young man now was. In the end, the young man received not only dominion over the king's land, but along with it discovered the king's greatest treasure.