FRIENDSHIP WITH THE MONARCH
The story is told of Shah Abbis, a Persian monarch who loved his people very much. To know and understand them better, he would mingle with his subjects in various disguises. One day he went as a poor man to the public baths and in a tiny cellar sat beside the fireman who tended the furnace. When it was mealtime, the monarch shared his coarse food and talked to his lonely subject as a friend. Again and again he visited and the man grew to love him. One day the Shah told him he was the monarch, expecting the man to ask some gift from him. But the fireman sat gazing at the ruler with love and wonder and at last spoke, “You left your palace and your glory to sit with me in the dark place, to eat of my coarse food, to care whether my heart is glad or sorry. On others you may bestow rich presents, but…
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