The Big Purse

Here is the story told by the children of the children of a wondrous Kingdom, a land with purple mountains majestic, and mighty cities, and fruited plains of plenty.

the wise and powerful King

Long ago, in a country far away, there lived a King.  His lands were rich and produced vast wealth, a wealth as unending as the sea. The King reigned from on high, his Throne and Powers the intention of none other than the Almighty Himself. For this King was himself the son of a King, who was also the son of a King.  Such is Order of Things.  And from this height the King saw the needs of his people, and bestowed blessings and punishment according to the Wisdom that all Kings possess. Such is the Nature of Things.

the Nature of Things

But alas, the peasants of the kingdom were a stubborn people.  They worked long in the fields of the King, sowing the seeds which the Almighty Himself had created, harvesting  the bounty from the King’s lands. The people did not understand that crops were gifts from Heaven and the King.  The people did not understand how costly were the wars whereby the King protected the people.  The people were as ungrateful as they were stupid and dirty.

the people of the Kindom

And so the King, in his Wisdom, raised up Councilors from among the leaders of the Tribes of the people.  The Councilors were paid well by the Wise and Generous King, for their work among the people was loathsome.  Because the people were as ungrateful as they were stupid and dirty.  And the Councilors bathed and learned to dance at the court of the King.  And they dressed in a fashion suitable to Lords of the King’s Realm.  This pleased the King, and he could forget the ungratefulness of his people.

Councilors to the King

But alas the Councilors became confused. They were but Elders from the Tribes, and so they were stupid and ungrateful.  They hated the dirtiness of the people, but they also hated the stinginess of the King.  And so they plotted amongst themselves to redistribute the wealth of the King.

the King's purse

The Councilors in Service to the Almighty joined with the King’s Council of War.  And soon the King learned of the evil of the Rulers in distant lands.  And he taxed his people, to pay for the army, which was led by his Council, to save the people from the Evil of the Foreign Host.

Pax quæritur bello (English: Peace is sought through war)

The people sent their sons and daughters to fight the Evil abroad.  They brought extra crops to the King, because the Council told them of the hunger of their sons and daughters.  But their children did not return home, and the people grew old and hungry.  And so the people demanded that the Councilors should clean the halls of the Castle and exile the King. And so it was that the old King was gone, and a wise new King was raised up by the Lord Councilors Themselves!

the King is dead ... long live the King

And the new King was wiser than the last.  For he understood that the people were not stupid and stubborn, but were in sorrow because they had lost Hope.  And so the new King promised that there would be Change in the Kingdom.  And the new King raised up New Councilors from among the sons of the old Council.  And the new Councilors showed the people the Awful and Calamitous decisions of the former King, and helped the people to understand why they must send more of their sons and daughters and crops to help save the land.

the new Council advises the new King

And thus the land became barren, and the sons and daughters returned home no more, and the people learned that the Council and the King were a stupid, greedy and stubborn tribe.