Treasures For The King [Part 1]

As I straightened my back, it snapped and cracked in protest. I had been looking so hard for little treasures that my back had grown accustomed to its new stooped position. Looking for treasure was not an easy task but at least the path on which I was looking for it had become much more pleasant, much easier to walk on, and with many more people to talk with. As this thought flitted inside my head, like a little bird, my eyes lifted to the path from where I had just come from a few weeks earlier. Up it wound the mountain, steep and treacherous was its incline. Thankfully, a kind guide I met on the road, had told me that the “short cut” route to the Great City had become the destruction of most of its travelers‘. With a gentle smile on his lips he then pointed me to this longer route, that was far less dangerous, but would also eventually lead to the Great City. It must have been a trick of the landscape, but my mind just couldn’t foresee how these two paths would meet up, they very much seemed to be heading in opposite directions. I quickly shooed these last pesky thoughts away, and again lowered my eyes gaze towards the earth, so as to find more treasure to give to the Great King. No sooner had my eyes spotted a wonderful gem of a treasure, I heard a voice that caused my hand to quickly snatch the gem and hold on to it tenaciously.

“Treasure for sale, priceless treasure for sale”, the voice boomed along the forest path.

When I looked at the upcoming owner of the voice, I had to stifle the snort that was trying to force its way out of my mouth. The man who selling “priceless treasure” was nothing more then a beggar himself. He was clothed in rags, and looked like he hadn’t seen a bathtub, stream, or any kind of clean water in quite some time. In his hands rested a plain looking jar made out of earthen clay. Since he had nothing else in his possession I assumed that this was his “priceless treasure”. This thought triggered the geyser in the depths of my stomach, and I had to hold down the impolite laugh that was again wanting to explode out of my mouth. The beggar didn’t seem to acknowledge the battle that was going on inside of me, he slowly kept limping closer to where I was standing, and at the same time continued to announce the sale of his priceless treasure. My eyes quickly scanned our immediate vicinity and realized that I was the only other person around. When the beggar got within a stones throw distance from me he stopped. There he stood motionless, staring at me through eyes that were so wrinkled they seemed half closed. His mouth was no longer smiling, it rested in a straight line and was almost impossible to detect with the myriad of lines that intersected the map of his face. How many years had that face seen the sun, wind and rain? He looked like an old piece of raw hide. Soon, the silence became very uncomfortable, something had to happen, someone had to make a move. Slowly and as inconspicuously as possible I lifted my hand and put it in my coat pocket, dropping in the gem. Then I pulled my sweaty hand out, empty, and wiped off the remaining signs of nervousness on my pants.

“What are you selling, old man?”, I asked, not so much out of interest but out of desire to shatter the uncomfortable silence that had enveloped us.

At this the old man gave a knowing smirk as his eyes seemed to bore into the depths of my heart.

“What I sell, you do not hold at present in your pocket.”, he replied with a riddle-like tone to his answer.

Had he seen me pick up the gem, or was he trying to discover what I had in my pocket by making me think he saw what I picked up? Well, I wasn’t falling into that old trap.

“What is the price of your priceless treasure”, I questioned through grinning teeth, proud of myself for returning the old fools riddle with one of my own.

The old man didn’t answer quickly, instead he stood his ground stewing in his answer.

“The treasure will cost you nothing you own, and everything you possess”, he replied softly, while lifting up the jar of clay toward the sky.

I repeated the old man’s words to myself, under my breath, hoping that magically the answer to his riddle would shine into my ignorance. My hoping was in vain, no answer was blazing into my consciousness. I fixed my attention to the old man, the breeze had blown his ratty white hair into his face, giving him the appearance of a large white rabbit. A rabbit who seemed to be luring me down into its hole. I took another nibble at the bait.

“How can something cost me nothing and yet at the same time everything”, I asked mockingly.

At this the old man simply stood looking at me, to be more specific, he stood there staring at my coat pocket. The pocket in which my gem rested.

“Famine has the power to make the worthless, priceless and the priceless, worthless”, the old fool continued on with his unending philosophizing.

“Can’t you just speak plainly”, I growled at him, my teeth now clenched firmly together.

I had grown tired of this old beggar, it was time to keep moving on towards the Great City. I had treasures to gather before I met the Great King. I began to walk towards the old man, not because I wanted to grow further acquainted with his odd riddling, but for the reason that he stood between me and the goal to my journey’s end. As I grew closer to him I began to smell a putrid, rotting smell. I held my breath as I passed him, to keep from retching. He positively reeked! I had passed him by four or five paces when he called out to me.

“The Great King is pleased with only one treasure”, he announced with all the authority of a palace high official.

At this I whipped around to face him, ignoring the repulsive smell that seemed to hit me like a wave of the sea.

“And how would you know what the Great King likes and dislikes, accepts and refuses, you old begging fool?”, I lashed out at him, spitting my words out with hateful force.

I didn’t give him a chance to answer. I had already given him far too much of my time already.

“You’ve grown feeble in the head, old man. The Great King is not going to be thrilled over that silly jar of clay.”, I educated him, as if I knew what the King would accept or not.

The old man shook his head sadly.

“One has to look past the jar of clay to see the true treasure. Come, look within and all other treasures will dim in comparison.”, he pleaded with me, as he moved to pull off the jars lid.

I watched through furrowed brows, as the old man wrestled with the lid, and after a few moments wriggled it free from the clay jar. He pulled the lid back slightly, cracking the lid up just a sliver. Whatever was inside must have been truly brilliant indeed as I could see its glow from where I stood. For a moment I felt like my curiosity was going to get the better of me. My legs twitched as if I was going to close the gap between me and the old man, to check out his priceless treasure. My legs didn’t move. Instead, my eyes shifted downward to my pocket, and my hand moved upward to grasp the treasure I was already in possession of.

In blink, I turned to continue on my journey, leaving the bad company behind me. As I walked I could hear his shouts getting more and more faint. The last words I could make out before I headed into the dark forest were:

“All that glitters is not gold”

As I disappeared into the myriad of trees I took one last glimpse at the gem nestled in my pocket‘s bottom, its luster glittered brilliantly up at me. I laughed at the old fool behind me, the self appointed treasure inspector. As if he had ever laid eyes on gold of any considerable quantity.