There was a country long time ago where the people

would change a king every year. The person who would

become the king had to agree to a contract that he

would be sent to an island after his one year of being

a king.



One king finished his term and it was time for him to

go to the island and live there. The people dressed

him up in expensive clothes and put him on an elephant

and took him around the cities to say goodbye to all

the people. This was the moment of sadness for all the

kings who ruled for one year. After saying farewell,

the people took the king with a boat to the remote

island and left him there.



On their way back, they discovered a ship that had

sunk just recently. They saw a young man who survived

by holding on to a floating piece of wood. As they

needed a new king, they picked up the young man and

took him to their country. They requested him to be a

king for a year. First he refused but later he agreed

to be a king. People told him about all the rules and

regulations and that how he will be sent to an island

after one year.



After three days of being a king, he asked the

ministers if they could show him the island where all

the other kings were sent. They agreed and took him to

the island. The island was covered with thick jungles

and sounds of vicious animals were heard coming out of

them. The king went little bit inside to check. Soon

he discovered the dead bodies of all the past kings.

He understood that as soon as they were left in the

island, the animals came and killed them.



The king went back to the country and collected 100

strong workers. He took them to the island and

instructed them to clean the jungle, remove all the

deadly animals and cut down all the excess trees. He

would visit the island every month to see how the work

was progressing. In the first month, all the animals

were removed and many trees were cut down. In the

second month, the whole island was cleaned out. The

king then told the workers to plant gardens in various

parts of the island. He also took with himself useful

animals like chickens, ducks, birds, goats, cows etc.

In the third month, he ordered the workers to build

big houses and docking stations for ships. Over the

months, the island turned into a beautiful place.

The young king would wear simple clothes and spend

very little from his earnings as a king. He sent all

the earnings to the island for storage. When nine

months passed like this, the king called the ministers

and told them:



"I know that I have to go the island after one year,

but I would like to go there right now." But the

ministers didn't agree to this and said that he has to

wait for another 3 months to complete the year.

3 months passed and now it was a full year. The people

dressed up the young king and put him on an elephant

to take him around the country to say goodbye to

others. However, this king is unusually happy to leave

the kingdom.



People asked him, "All the other kings would cry at

this moment and why are you laughing?"

He replied, "Don't you know what the wise people say?

They say that when you came to this world as a baby,

you were crying and everyone was smiling. Live such a

life that when you are die, you will be smiling and

everyone around you will be crying. I have lived that

life. While all the other kings were lost into the

luxuries of the kingdom, I always thought about the

future and planned for it. I turned the deadly island

into a beautiful abode for me where I can stay

peacefully."



The moral lesson from this story is about how we

should live our life. The life of this world is to

prepare for the life hereafter. In this life, we

shouldn't get lost into the deceiving and attractive

things of this world and forget about what is to come

in the afterlife. Rather, even if we are kings, we

should live a simple life.