The Shepherd and the King


J. de Lafontaine The
Shepherd and the King
All of our lives are owned by two demons, to which weak human hearts are subordinated. One of them is called Love, and the second – Ambition. Possessions of the second are wider – in them, at times, love is included. This can be found many examples, but in the fable it will be a question of another.
In the old days, a wise King saw the herds of the Shepherd grow year after year, multiply and bring in a fair income, call him to himself, say: “You are worthy to be the shepherd of men” and will give him the title of supreme judge. Although the Shepherd is uneducated, he has common sense, and so he judges fairly.
Once, the hermit visited the hermit. He advises the friend not to be entrusted to the monarch’s mercy – she caresses, threatening disgrace. The judge only laughs carelessly, and then the Hermit tells him a parable about a blind man who, having lost his scourge, found on the

road a frozen Snake and took it in his hands instead of a whip. In vain the passer-by urged him to abandon the Serpent, who, convinced that he was forced to part with a good whip out of envy, refused. And what? The snake, warmed, stung the stubborn man in the arm.
The hermit is right. Soon the slanderers come to the King: they assure that the judge thinks only of how to get rich. After verifying these rumors, the King discovers that the former shepherd lives simply, without luxury and splendor. However, the slanderers do not quit and say that the judge is probably keeping his treasures in a chest with seven seals. In the presence of all dignitaries, the King orders to open the trunk of the judge – but there they find only old, worn-out shepherd’s clothes, a bag and a pipe. Everyone is embarrassed…
And the Shepherd, putting on this clothes, which does not excite envy and offense, forever leaves the judges’ chambers. He is pleased: he knew the hour of his power and the hour of the fall; now an ambitious dream has dissipated, but “who of us does not have ambition, even a grain?”.


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The Shepherd and the King