Thoughts/ Excerpts

F O U R T Y

Once upon a time, there was a king in a faraway land.

As fate has it, he had everything one could ever dream of, starting from prestigious clothes all the way to delicious foods.

He was, indeed, a very avaricious king. Although he had this much, he wanted to have more. Whenever he did, euphoria overcame him, although that sense of happiness did not last long, he preserved it, while thinking he was high and mighty.

Moreover, he hated every person who would ask him for a penny, or a sack of rice. After all, it was his and his to take. Never once in his life, could he imagine to share his belongings and all assets with someone else. Even all of his servants lived in separate living quarters, since the palace was his to keep.

One day, he opened the door to his balcony, like he always did every evening and saw a cat strolling right into his sleeping quarters, settling down on the seat opposite to his at the dining table on the floor. Surprisingly, the cat would not even budge at his requests and orders for leaving the room. Conceding, he sat down at his respective seat on the floor and started to dine, trying to ignore the being that had made his palace her home. This continued for an entirety of three days. He opened his window, the cat strolled in and made herself comfortable at his dining table, watching him until he had devoured his last bite, and leaving.

On the fourth day, the king opened his window. In contrast to the past few days, the cat did not enter the room. Confused, the king leaned out of the window, searching for traces of her paws on his grand windowsill, but there were none.

So, he went back to the table, picked up his fork and wanted to start eating when a thought entered his mind. Determinedly, he rummaged through his cupboard for a cursory plate and placed a piece of cheese on top of it, leaving it below his own dining table and waited. He started towards the window again, in search for the cat, but returned with nothing less than a sense of grievance. That night, he did not have a bite of his food.

The following day, he set the table for his friend again, then opened the window. When the cat appeared, he was elated, reaching for her small ears and stroking her head.

The cat sauntered in, seemingly pleased at the extra food he had set out and made herself at home again. The king stopped in his tracks, observing the cat enjoy her food and slowly walked to his seat.

And noticed that even a king had never known the sense of delight that came with sharing a simple meal, because he had been trapped in the delusion of eating ever more so happily when he was alone. "I had never known" he whispered, "the enrichment an act of sharing could have on a meal" he thought, while he banned the thought of detriment he previously had, when he was accompanied by other people at his meal.

After all, an act of sharing could perhaps be more joyful than an act of egoism.

And perhaps, eating in company was filled with more relish than eating solitary.