king's scholars. "For it is written that 'truth is a joy unto
itself.'" So the king applied himself to books of wisdom, and to
seeking the knowledge of all his many scholars and sending
throughout all his realm to find the wise from every land. Dozens
came and dozens pretended to instruct him in wisdom or in the way to
happiness, but while he found some really good advice and some
satisfying rules for life, happiness still eluded him.
Then one day came a woman from a land beyond the sunrise. Her words
were few but they so affected those who listened that she was
immediately granted an audience with the king, who explained the
discontent of his condition.
"Here before me," he said, "it would seem that I have everything a
man could want. I have three or four rings on every finger, I can
caress a beautiful woman's hair in any color, I can ride a week in
any direction and find my statue erected and feared, and I can hear
any melody or see any play at my command. I possess or can do or
enjoy everything I can imagine, and everything that the most
creative of my servants can imagine. And yet I find that happiness
is nowhere to be found. I am always rankled by a feeling of
dissatisfaction and haunted by an awareness of emptiness."
"Truly, his majesty's desires seem to be infinite," said one of his
courtiers, scarcely more able to hide his disgust than his envy.
"His majesty's desires are indeed infinite," said the woman. "For
that is the nature of the human heart. The heart's deepest desires
cannot be satisfied by any finite thing."
"Then what am I to do?" asked the king with dismay.
"You must seek the Infinite," the woman said.
"And where can I find it?" he asked. "What form does it take?"
"The Infinite is not a thing or in a particular place," said the
woman. "But seek Him and you will find happiness."
When the people saw that the woman was returning to her land, they
asked what she had said to the king.
"She reminded us of what we had forgotten," said one of the king's
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