| The Naked King | |
February 9, 2014
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| The king liked being naked. When he was naked, he felt freedom. When he wore clothes, he felt uneasy. He sometimes walked outside naked. One day, his secretary asked about it, and the king responded, "The king's job is tough. My subjects always expect me to be an ideal king, and it is stressful for me. So, why don't you leave me alone with my one small happiness: to be naked? The secretary said, "But in this country, walking outside naked is prohibited. It's the king's law." So the king announced publicly that he wore some clothes which couldn't be seen by people who had a bad will towards him. He was a good king, decent and thoughtful; so, his subjects accepted his habit. Although in truth, it was a little troublesome for the people to pretend that the king wore something. The naked king (he wore only under pants) approached a guy in downtown and said, "Good morning, sir. What a beautiful day, isn't it?" The middle aged man became tense looking
The king said, "You are wearing a fine jacket. The color is similar to mine, isn't it?" In his mind, the guy sighed but said with a smile, "Oh, yes. I know you like violet, so I came to like violet too and bought this." The king said, "You are right. I like violet. And my cream collar trousers match my jacket, don't they?" This type of conversation continued, but after a while, the king moved on, and the man felt relieved. For this reason, many people usually kept a safe distance from the king when they saw him walking around. But, one day, two young brothers approached him. One of the boys, four or five years old, pointing at the king shouted, "The king is naked!" Before the king started to open his mouth, the elder brother, ten or eleven, corrected his younger brother, "What are you talking about? The king is wearing clothes. " The kind nodded with a satisfied face. The elder boy said to his younger brother, "Look at his clothes carefully. He is wearing a pink jacket and yellow trousers; he is like a circus clown. Nowadays, nobody is out of fashion sense like this." He started to laugh. The younger brother followed his brother, "You are right! He has a polka-dotted blue shirt and bright green socks! It's funny, the funniest thing that I've ever seen! Maybe the funniest style in the whole world!" The king was too decent to scold the boys. But, from then on, he quit walking around naked. |
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*prohibite :to officially stop an activity by making it illegal or against the rules (L)
*will :what someone wants (C)
*decent :honest and morally good (C)