From his early youth the prince was loved by all the people of the realm. When the day of his ascent to the throne was announced, all the people of the nation rejoiced. There was much excitement as every man talked with his neighbor about the coming day of their king’s coronation.
“It is said that he will go through all of the great highways of the country and talk with everyone along the way. He will ride his great golden chariot. Before him will come all of the courtiers and the members of his court.” Indeed, there was much excitement.
Among those who looked forward to the day of the coronation were two men of whom I want to tell you. One was a very young boy named Michael, who lived with his widowed mother and two little sisters. The family depended upon him for their substance. He would go out from day to day to find work he could do, either in the field or in the village. All who hired him found he was honest and fair—a hard worker, but very young. There was another man who lived in that very same village whose name was Carlo. Carlo was a carpenter by trade, but never a very good man because he was lazy. He always sought to find a way to earn without working. It was his belief that a man who was clever enough could get rich without working. When Carlo heard of the coming coronation day, an idea came into his mind.
“Ah, it is well known,” he said to himself, “that when the king comes to be crowned, he will give gifts to all the people in the realm, and especially to the poor and needy. I will make myself a poor, wretched cripple, and certainly the king will have mercy upon me, and perchance he will give me a great gift.”
When Michael heard, his thoughts were along a different line. “Ah,” he said, “the king will come, and I will see him, and perhaps he will come close enough that I will be able to touch his hand. How wonderful it would be to serve the king in his very presence!” He was thinking of those whose privilege it was to serve the king as pages, or as knights, or as courtiers in the very court of the great king.
As the time approached, Carlo, the lazy carpenter, made his preparation. He put on old, worn clothing and put dirty, ragged bandages on his head and limbs. He practiced a limp to seem to be severely afflicted. When the big day came, he went with the crowd to the edge of the highway and awaited the king’s coming with his train. Michael stood not far from Carlo, barefoot, for he owned no shoes. His clothes indeed were well-worn, but they were clean and well-patched by his industrious mother. As he stood looking up along the highway, he could see the parade coming.
First, he saw the pages leading the procession – young men dressed in the finery of the king’s court, declaring to all the people, “Here comes the king!” Right behind them came the heralds, a bit older, each one with his long silver trumpet, with the banners of the king attached and waving. They sounded as they came, “Ta-ta-Ta—Hear Ye, hear ye, here comes the great king. The king of our nation.”
Behind the heralds and in greater splendor came the knights in shining armor astride prancing horses. Their shields were polished mirrors. Their steeds stepped proudly, lifting their hoofs high. Oh, what splendid horses they were with trappings of silver, gold, and purple shone in the brilliant sunlight!
Behind the knights rode the princes themselves. Those who ate at the very table of the king. Then, in the distance behind them, all those who stood by the wayside could see the chariot of the king himself. Much larger were these horses than those which the knights had ridden. High, proud, black, shinning steads, with sparkling harnesses, drew the beautiful chariot. It was the chariot of state, which was used only by the king himself.
But the king was not riding in the chariot. No, earlier in the day he had caused the chariot to stop and he had descended. Now he walked before the horses. As he walked, he would stop and converse with this person or that. He would pat a child upon the head, then talk with a poor widow or beggar here and there along the way. As the king came to the place where Carlo stood, the false beggar pushed his way out into the middle of the street and held his hand up toward the monarch and said, “Ah, Sire, I am a miserable pauper, have mercy upon me.”
The king stopped and looked down on the miserable man before him. Looking into the man’s eyes he said, “My son, what will you give to me, on this, my coronation day?”
Carlo looked up in astonishment at the king, “I, give to thee, Sire? Can you not see that I am poor, weak, miserable? What can I have to give to you?”
The king answered only by asking the same question again, and looking deep into the eyes of the man, “What will you give me? This is the day of my coronation as your king. What will you give me?”
In consternation Carlo pushed his hand into the bag which he held. In it he had several handfuls of corn. From this, according to his miserly ways, he withdrew only three kernels. He held them out, his hand trembling, and dropped them into the palm of the king’s outstretched hand.
Receiving the three kernels of corn, the king looked down into the man’s eyes and said, “Thank you, son. I thank you.”
Then the king went his way.
Angered at the failure of his plan, Carlo turned and stamped off toward his home.
A few moments later the king came to the place where Michael stood, wide- eyed and open-mouthed. How beautiful had been the glory of all that he had seen! Michael’s eyes lit up at all that he saw coming toward him along the highway. How splendid they appeared! He could see that some of the pages were about his own age and some even younger. How well-fed they must be! How strong, agile, and alert they seemed to be! How wonderful it must be to serve the king!
Then, as he watched, he saw the heralds come with their shinning trumpets, “Ta- ta-Ta—Hear ye, Hear ye!” Oh, how wonderful it would be to announce the coming of the king, wherever he might be! Then, behind them, Michael saw the knights in their shining armor, mounted upon their shinning steads. Oh, how wonderful it must be to be a knight! To do battle for the great king! Then he saw the princes, the wise ones who were accorded the privilege of sitting at the king’s own table and eating the king’s own meat. The greatest thrill of all for Michael was when the king himself appeared.
As the king came to where the boy stood, he looked into his eyes and repeated the same question that he had asked of Carlo, the false beggar, “My son, what have you for me? What will you give me, on this, my coronation day?”
To hear the voice of the king, looking at him and talking to him, caused Michael’s heart to thrill with joy but also with fear.
“I, give to you, Sire?” His hands fell down to his side. “I have nothing, Sire. All that I have is myself.” He held up his empty hands. “But, Sire, I will give myself to thee.”
Looking down with kind eyes into Michael’s own and into the very heart of the boy, the king replied, “Thank you, my son, thank you.”
Puzzled, the boy watched the last of the train disappear down the highway, then turned and walked slowly toward his home.
As he came to Carlo’s house, he saw the man standing in the doorway. When he had greeted him, Carlo replied with a growl, “All that work, and the king gave me nothing.”
With this, Carlo threw the sack which held the corn on the table. Michael, standing in the doorway was amazed to see a glimmer of shinning gold from the table. Carlo saw it too and sprang to look. There, among the kernels of corn, shown three coins of solid gold, resplendent among the corn.
The carpenter looked up in amazement. “Three kernels of corn I gave to the king, and look, he has given me three gold coins. Ah, would that I had given him all my corn!”
The man sank down to his bench and held his head in his hands, full of remorse that he had given so little to the king. Thinking deep thoughts, Michael continued on his homeward way. As he approached the cottage in which he lived, his mother rushed out to him. In her hand she held a letter. Michael’s heart leaped within him as he saw the king’s own seal on the letter. Opening it quickly, Michael read a summons signed by the king’s own hand. It called him to come to the court to serve the king in his very presence, to eat at the king’s table, and to be one of those who bear the name of the king and do his work!