Once there was a king who worried about what fortune might befall his nation. This question distracted him during the day and kept him from sleeping at night. Every day, the king would sit upon his throne and brood on what the future might hold. Indeed, he was so obsessed with this that he failed to govern his kingdom properly, and it soon began to go to wrack and ruin.
The king's ministers were concerned at this state of affairs, and asked the king why he was no longer such a good monarch. When he told them, the ministers were aghast.
"But, sire!" they said. "No man may know the future."
"Then how can one make plans?" the king asked; but the ministers could not give him a satisfactory answer. Except for one.
A junior official, newly arrived from the provinces, approached the king. "Majesty," he said, "there is a man who knows what the future holds. In a cave near my village dwells a wise man - an oracle. Surely he will be able to tell you what will happen to your kingdom?"
"Take me to him," the king commanded. And so the junior official accompanied his ruler to the wise man's cave.
The oracle was not surprised to see the king, and welcomed him and the young official into his cave. There, the wise man asked the king, "What is your question? What do you want to know?"
"I wish to know what the future holds for my kingdom and my people."
The wise man shook his head and clicked his tongue. Then he cast his runes upon the ground and consulted his book of omens. His face fell, and he began to laugh.
"Why are you laughing?" the king asked. "Tell me!" But the only answer he received was more laughter. In a fit of fury, the king drew his sword. With a single stroke of the blade, he slew the oracle and then he vented his rage upon the junior official. Still furious, the monarch returned to his palace where he governed the land with a fist of iron until the end of his days.
And the moral of this tale? Hahaha-ha-ha ... !
