Daily Parable: A Merchant Comes to the King

Once upon a time, there was a king named Vincent, he loved his people dearly. He was, in turn, admired by them, including his servants and the men who protected him.

King Vincent was a very honorable man who welcomed everyone in his kingdom and made them feel at home despite being far away from home.

One day, a merchant entered his kingdom, and His Royal Highness was pleased to have him in his palace and invited him over to stay for a feast.

The merchant was thrilled because he had never received an invitation for a feast before, especially from a king. Finally, evening came, and he sat beside the king, who was telling stories, everyone at the table enjoyed them.

King Vincent's children loved it when he told stories and asked more about them. The merchant was also having a good time, and the king asked if he would come to visit again for a special event hosted by the palace.

“Of course, my Lord, I wouldn’t miss it for the world." He then left, and on the way home, he recalled how easy it was to even sit beside the king and have a meal with him because he charmed him.

On the day of the occasion, the merchant arrived at the palace, and the king saw that he was present and called him to come closer, asking for his men to give him preferential treatment.

The merchant noticed how regal the king looked in his robe and made conversation with him about it. He told the king his robes are the finest in all the land but that only those who aren’t fools can see them.

The merchant then held up his arms and presented the garment to the king. Not being able to see anything, the king became worried that he might be the fool and pretended to gape at the craftsmanship.

He commented on the golden silk patterns and how rich the red color was. He instantly paid the merchant a hefty amount of money, and his servant put the robes on him.

The king’s servant was also convinced by his act and feared himself being a fool for not seeing the robes, and he too, pretended.

The king then walked out of the room naked and decided to parade his fancy new robes before all his people and stood before them, telling them how only those who aren’t fools can see how grand his attire is.

The people were shocked and were in complete silence. They also could not see the robes and feared to look like fools and jumped on the bandwagon of pretense, except for one person.

A young girl shouted above the crowd that the king had no clothes on, and people turned to her in dismay. The king laughed and told the little girl how ignorant she was and that one day when she is no longer a fool, she will realize how marvellous his robes are.

The moral of this story is to show how easily falsehood spread. They are reinforced on others who believe the same falsehoods, and many will follow suit despite the contrary. With that said, it takes a brave individual to question it all and tell the king he has no clothes on.

Read up about a wealthy merchant who had four wives and loved all of them except for one. The fact that he loved one less ended up with consequences.