The Value of The Statue
Once upon a time, there was a king whose one desire in life was to grow popular. No doubt, he did his best to please his subjects. He had created a post of the headman in every village and had appointed a prominent villager to the post. Once a year he called a meeting of all the headmen. In their annual meetings, the headmen generally praised the king. At the same time, they brought to his notice whatever problems their villages faced. The king took steps to solve the problems. "Never in the history of our kingdom was there a King who was loved so much!" a headman would say. "Why in the history of our Kingdom alone? Was there ever a king in all the neighboring kingdoms who could rival our King in popularity?" would say another. The king, though a good man, was quite flattered by such comments. When the king was quite sure that the people loved him very much, he made his statues adore all the villages. No doubt, people derived much benefit from their king. So they regularly garlanded the statue. In many villages, they grew gardens around the king's statue.