Once upon a time, there lived a king named Albert. He was the king of Alberia. Alberia was a prosperous country. All the men and women in Alberia worked hard alongside its past rulers to make it a glorious country. This country was a paradise with a king. The king had wise ministers who were well educated. They advised the king to govern the country.
One day, strange news came to the palace. It was about a prophet who sees the future. The king was curious. Since childhood, despite all his knowledge and education, he has believed in prophecies. So, he wanted to meet the prophet.
The ministers in the court did not like the idea of taking a prophet into the palace. They reminded the king that the kingdom was built by men and women who worked hard and sacrificed. The king did not seem to be convinced. So, the ministers suggested seeing if the prophet was a real one before taking him into the palace. The king agreed.
A minister disguised himself as a poor man and went to the prophet. He observed the prophet and looked at what was happening. The prophet was giving prophecies to the people who were gathering around. He describes such things as the sudden appearance of pots filled with gold coins. As he said, pots filled with gold coins appeared. The minister could not find anything against the prophet. Though he was suspicious, he could not find anything.
So the king took the prophet in. He welcomed him to the palace. The prophet became a member of his court. He gave advice to the king and gained the trust of the king.
One full moon poya day, the prophet came to the king and said, “My king, last night, a messenger from higher power and wisdom came to me and gave me a message.” The king was curious and asked what it was. The prophet said it was a prophecy of the kingdom.
“In ten full moons, there will be starvation,” the prophet said. The king was worried. Because he believed in the prophet.
“What can I do to prevent it from happening?” the king asked.
“There will be a way. Only one way. You have to offer every flower that blooms in your kingdom to the god of prosperity until nine full moons pass,” the prophet said. The king rushed to court and informed the ministers. The ministers were not ready to believe the prophecy.
“We have food stored for another three months. And we have farmers cultivating crops all around the kingdom. We have water stored for another 6 months. How can there be starvation?” the ministers asked. But the prophet had already convinced the king. Ministers did not like to offer every flower that bloomed in the kingdom to the god.
“If we pluck every flower, who will give nectar to the bees? If bees don’t have flowers, how can we have honey?” The ministers tried to explain to the king. Still, the king did not change his stand.
So, King Albert ordered everyone in the country to pluck every flower in the country every day to the god of prosperity until nine full moons passed. The ministers and the loyal people followed the king’s orders. They plucked every flower, including wild flowers, they could find for the god of prosperity.
The day after eight full moons and 27 days had passed, the king wanted to talk with the prophet to see if the prophecy had changed. He ordered his men to escort the prophet. But the prophet was nowhere to be found. In his chambers, the guards found a note.
“King Albert, you made sure the prophecy was never wrong,” was the note.
The king did not understand the note. He thought he did something wrong and therefore he failed to change the prophecy. In a few days, reports about people not being able to pay taxes came to the palace. The Treasury was getting empty. Each day passed, and the situation got worse. The harvest from all the lands had been reduced so much. People began to go to bed with an empty stomach. Food became so scarce.
The king, Albert, gathered the courtiers and said that the prophecy was coming true. Meanwhile, terrible news came to the palace. The neighboring king had started an invasion against Alberia. The news shook the royal court. The king was sweating. The people are hungry, the Treasury is running low day by day and now there is an invasion! The king was speechless.
At that time, a wise minister stood up. “My king! Allow me to speak,” the minsters asked for permission.
“Yes, speak,” the king said.
“What is happening is not a prophecy, my lord. This is what the prophet had been planning all along. Our kingdom was so powerful, undefeated, and the strongest of all. Because our lands are fertile, our farmers work hard, so we have a secure food supply, and we are all loyal to the throne, my king. So, if any enemy of ours wanted to defeat us, they would have to destroy our lands, our farmers, our loyalty, or our food production. It has come to my mind that our enemy sent the prophet to us. And he weakened our food supply,” the minister was explaining.
“How, dare you?” The king shouted.
“Forgive me, my king; I can explain. We offered every flower blooming in our kingdom to the god of prosperity for nine full moons, as the prophet advised. But we lost our food supply and the starvation came anyway.
My king, it is because flowers become fruits. When we destroy all the flowers, how can there be fruits?
My lord, bees need flowers; if there are no flowers, how can bees make honey?
My king, bees are the ones who take life from one flower to another. If bees don’t take life from one flower to another, how can there be any fruits?
My load, so the obvious reason for this starvation is the prophet’s way of avoiding it. The solution the prophet gave us is the reason for this starvation,” the minister explained to the king. Everyone in the court agreed with the wise minister. The king was ashamed.
Though the wise ministers warned about this, the king carried out the ritual. Now he has doomed the country. Though the king was blindly following prophecies, he was a humble and noble king. So he accepted what the minister said and asked if there was any solution to the issue.
“There is only one solution, my king. One thing our enemy missed counting was root vegetables. We can gather every root vegetable into the capital and ration them. Combined with serials, it will be enough until we harvest again,” the wise minister said.
This time, the king followed knowledge instead of prophecies. After tiring efforts and battles, the kingdom could scare off the invading enemy. The invading army was expecting a weak army and a country with starvation and riots against the king. But instead, thanks to knowledgeable ministers, root vegetables, and serials, the country was strong enough to defend itself and ward off the enemy.