A Child’s Fable (but Adults May Eavesdrop)

Once upon a time and long ago, there lived a strong and mighty king, who though he was extremely powerful, loved his subjects very much. He wanted them to be close to him, because he knew that this closeness would make them happy and content, and he wanted to be near them as well.

So that they could find him, he gave them a road map that showed them how to reach his royal palace. But the people were careless, and they neglected the map and lost it. Having lost it, even those who wanted to reach the king’s palace did not know how to get there, so some gave up trying altogether, and even those who wanted to reach the king often got distracted by other things. They wandered off into the beautiful side streets, lovely byways, attractive avenues, tempting paths, and houses of fun and games and revelry, and soon they forgot all about the main highway that led directly to the palace.

Many of the king’s subjects remained in these side streets, forgetting that they were lost, and some even mistook them for the main road, while others even doubted that there had ever been a map or a road to the palace, and soon they completely forgot that there ever was a king.

The king was very wise, and seeing all this, decided to do something to bring them closer. Slowly and gradually he began closing down one side street after another, one byway after another, one avenue and pathway after another, and before long, the lovely but distracting side streets and byways and avenues and paths and houses of fun and games and sports stadiums and gymnasiums and shopping malls and restaurants and concert halls and theaters were all shut down.