This is an old story about a crazy king. Once a king became very angry with his prime minister for certain reasons, and the king was a little crazy he sentenced him to death. It was the custom of that country that whenever a person was going to be crucified, the king himself used to come and see him, and if he wanted anything, his last wish had to be fulfilled. And certainly this man had served him his whole life – he had been his prime minister – so he came to see him the day he was going to be crucified. He was going to be crucified in the evening, so the king came in the morning. He came on his beautiful horse.
The prisoner could see the horse outside through the window. The king came in, and the prisoner started crying; tears started rolling down his cheeks. The king was surprised. He said, ’You, and crying? I would never have imagined it, not even in my dreams! You are such a man of courage, you have fought so many battles. Are you afraid of death?’
And the prime minister said, ’No, I am not crying or weeping because of my death, I am crying because of the horse!’
The king said, ’What do you mean? Why should you cry because of the horse? What has the horse done?’
The prime minister said, ’I have never said it to anybody, not even to my wife, that when I was young I lived with an alchemist. He was a miracle man, and I learned from him the art of teaching a horse to fly. But only a certain kind of horse can be taught. I have been looking for that special kind of horse my whole life – I could not find it – and today you have brought the horse! This is the horse for which I have been looking my whole life, and this is my last day! I am crying because my whole life’s search, my long long apprenticeship with the alchemist, my arduous journey to the Himalayas to learn the art – all has gone in vain! And why did you bring this horse today? You could have come on another horse. At least I could have died in peace! Now I will be dying in great turmoil.’
The king became very enchanted with the idea that the horse could fly. If it were possible then he would be the only king in the whole world whose horse could fly! He said, ’How long will it take to teach the horse?’
The man said, ’Only one year.’
The king said, ’Okay, I trust you. I know you are a trustworthy man, you will not escape. One year I give you! If you can teach the horse to fly, not only will you be released from this sentence of death but you will get half my kingdom also. And if the horse cannot fly, of course, after one year you win be killed, so there is nothing for me to lose. Take the horse and go home!’
The prime minister took the horse and went home. The wife was crying because this was the last day. They were getting ready to go and see him after the king had left. The children were crying, all the relatives had gathered and his friends had gathered. They could not believe their eyes when the prime minister arrived there on the horse! They said, ’What has happened? What happened? Tell us how you managed it! Have you escaped from the prison? But this horse, we know, belongs to the king! How did you get hold of this horse?’
And the prime minister laughed and he said, ’Let me tell you the whole story!’ He told the whole story.
The wife started crying even more loudly. She said, ’I know that this is absolutely false. You don’t know any art, you have never been to the Himalayas, you have never been an apprentice to any alchemist. Now this will be even harder for us. This whole year I will have to suffer now! This evening it would have been finished; after a few days I would have settled time heals everything.
But one year, and death will be constantly hanging over our heads like a naked sword! And if you are so clever, then why did you ask for only one year? You could have said it would take twelve years!’
The prime minister said, ’You don’t know the king. Twelve years would have been too long I know him perfectly well. I have asked the maximum of what was possible; more than that and I would have died today. But don’t be worried in one year anything can happen. The king can die, I can die, the horse can die! Everything is possible. One year is long enough much is possible. And I am free. Don’t be worried!’
And in the end of the story: all three died.
