The night before he ascended the throne, the young king was alone in the room. His courtiers bowed to him according to the rules at that time. After resigning, they went to the main hall of the palace and learned court etiquette from Mr. Etiquette several times, because some of them were not very familiar with court etiquette, and they were not familiar with it as courtiers. Needless to say, this is a disrespectful thing.

Seeing all the courtiers go out, 16-year-old boy was relieved. He took a long breath and leaned against the cushion of the embroidered bench. He lay there, his eyes wide open, like a forest shepherd or a small beast just caught by a hunter.

In fact, he was indeed hunted down, and they almost met by chance. At that time, barefoot, with a flute in his hand, he followed the sheep of the poor shepherd who raised him. He always thought he was the son of that man. In fact, his mother is the only daughter of the old king. She secretly married a man of low status and gave birth to him. Some people say that the man is a foreigner and plays the flute very well, which makes the little princess fall in love with him. Others said that he was an artist in Rimini, and the princess attached great importance to him, perhaps paying too much attention to him. Later, he suddenly left this place and didn't even finish the mural of the cathedral. On the seventh day after the child was born, while his mother was asleep, someone stole him from his mother and gave him to an ordinary peasant couple to raise him. The couple have no children of their own, live in a remote forest and ride from the city for more than a day. The pale girl who gave birth to him woke up and died within an hour. No one knows whether she died of grief, plague as the doctor said, or Italian acute poison in spice wine as some people vaguely said. A loyal minister rode a horse and took his child to the saddle bridge. When he bent down from his tired horse and knocked on the door of the shepherd's hut, the princess's body was being put into an open grave, which was located in a desolate cemetery outside the city. It is said that there is another body in the grave, a handsome foreign man. His hands were tied behind his back with ropes, and he was scarred.

That's how people tell stories in private. One thing is true: when the old king died, he didn't know whether it was because he repented of his great sin or just to prevent his land from falling from his clique to others. He sent someone to get the child back and admitted that the child was his heir before the cabinet ministers.

When the old king announced that his child would inherit the throne, he seemed to show that strange passion for beauty at once, which was bound to have a great impact on his life. Those who sent him to the room prepared for him often talked about how he gave a cry of joy when he saw the gorgeous clothes and precious jewels left for him to wear, and how he excitedly took off his coarse sheepskin coat. Sometimes, he really misses his carefree life in the mountains. The heavy court etiquette occupies most of his time and often makes him bored, but this magnificent palace (people call it "Happy Palace" and he is now its owner) is a new world created just to satisfy his happiness, as long as he can escape from the conference table or the introduction room. He always immediately ran down the stairs decorated with gold-plated bronze lions and bright clouds, and walked from room to room and from corridor to corridor, as if he wanted to find a pair of painkillers, a magical prescription for treating diseases by himself.

He called it an adventure trip, but in fact, in his view, it was a fairyland, and sometimes there were several eunuchs with long hair around beautiful ribbons and cloaks. But more often, he is always alone. He felt that the secret of art should be found in the dark from an instinct almost equivalent to the wisdom predicted by the prophet. Just like wisdom, everyone likes a lonely admirer.

There are many anecdotes about him among the people. It is said that a potbellied mayor made a solemn declaration of allegiance on behalf of the whole city. Once I saw him kneeling very respectfully in front of a painting that had just been sent from Venice, as if he were worshipping a new god for that big painting. On another occasion, he disappeared for several hours and people looked everywhere. Finally, I found him in a small room in the small tower in the north of the palace. At that time, he was looking at a Greek gem engraved with the image of adonis. Legend has it that he was seen kissing the forehead of an ancient marble statue with his warm lips. This stone statue was dug out of the river bed when people were building a stone bridge, and the name of Hadrian Bismarck slave was engraved on it. He also spent the whole night observing the moonlight on a silver statue.

All the treasures are very attractive to him. He was so eager to get these things that he sent many businessmen out. Some went to fishermen in Beihai to buy amber, while others went to Egypt to look for magical emeralds only found in emperors' tombs. It is said that emeralds are magical. Some go to Persia to collect velvet carpets and painted pottery, while others go to India to buy veils and dyed ivory, moonstone and jade bracelets, sandalwood, blue utensils and fine products.

But what bothers him most is the robe symbolizing power, the robe woven with gold thread, the crown inlaid with rubies and the pearl scepter hanging down at the enthronement ceremony. In fact, this is exactly what he was thinking tonight when he leaned back on the luxurious sofa and watched the large pieces of pine wood burn out in the fireplace. They were all designed by the most famous artists at that time, and the patterns were shown to him several months ago. He also ordered craftsmen to make designs day and night, and sent people everywhere to look for jewelry worthy of their craftsmanship, even if they searched all over the world, he didn't care. In his imagination, he saw himself standing on the high altar of the cathedral, wearing a luxurious royal robe. There was a smile on his lips, and his unique eyes of foresters became bright and vivid.

Soon he left the sofa chair and leaned against the carved eaves of the fireplace, looking around the dimly lit room. Luxury wall clothes symbolizing victory are hung on the wall. A large cabinet inlaid with agate and glass occupies a corner. There is a very delicate cabinet facing the window. Its painted lattice is sprinkled with gold powder and inlaid with gold, and there are several exquisite Venetian glass glasses and a black agate cup on it. Light-colored poppies are embroidered on the silk sheets. These poppies are like long ivory pillars with grooves falling from sleepy hands, supporting the velvet canopy, from which clusters of ostrich hair extend to the ceiling in gray silver relief, like white foam. A bronze Naxi Shas is smiling, holding his hands above his head and holding a bright mirror high. There is an amethyst basin on the table.

Outside the window, the big dome of the small church appeared, like a big bubble, vaguely exposed to a large dark house, and the tired sentry paced up and down under the cover of night fog. There is a nightingale singing in the orchard in the distance. The fragrance of jasmine wafted in through the open window. He swept the curly brown hair back from his forehead, then picked up a pipa and played it slowly. His heavy eyelids began to droop, and he felt a strange fatigue. He was intoxicated by this rhythm and never felt the magic and mystery of beauty like this.

It's midnight. He rang the bell wearily and the attendants came in. They undressed him according to heavy etiquette, sprinkled rose perfume on his hands and put some flowers on his pillow. He fell asleep soon after the manager retired.

In his sleep, he saw himself in a short and long attic, and his ears echoed with the sound of the loom spinning and jumping. The faint light came through the lattice window, showing him the tired figure of the weaver bending over the loom. Several sick and pale children squatted on the beam. When the shuttle hurried through the warp, they picked up the heavy narrow board. As soon as the shuttle stopped, they put down the narrow board and pressed the threads together. Their faces were tortured by hunger and their hands kept shaking. Several thin women are sitting at the table doing needlework. The whole room is filled with bad smell, the air is dirty, and the surrounding walls are constantly oozing water droplets.

The young king walked up to a weaver and stood beside him watching him work.

The Weaver Girl glared at him and said coldly, "Why are you protecting me? Did our master send you to spy on us? "

"Who is your master?" Asked the young king.

"You don't know?" The Weaver Girl cried painfully, "He is a person like me. In fact, there is only one small difference between him and me-he wears silk, while I always wear rags. I am starving, but he is uncomfortable. "

"This is a free country," said the young king. "You are nobody's slave."

"In war, the strong force the weak into slavery," replied the weaver. "In peacetime, the rich force the poor to be slaves. We have to work to support ourselves, but they only give us a small salary, and we can hardly live. We worked hard for them all day, their boxes were full of gold, our children died before they were adults, and the faces of our beloved people became wrinkled and ugly. Grape juice flows from our feet, but we let others drink wine. We planted millet, but there was nothing on our table. We all wear chains, although the chains are invisible to the naked eye. We are all slaves, no matter how free people say we are. "

"Are people like this?" Asked the young king.

"Yes," replied the weaver, "whether young or old, whether women or men, whether children or old people. Businessmen exploit us, and we only listen to them. The priest rode past us, only counting his prayer beads, and no one paid attention to us. Poverty, with a pair of hungry eyes, glides through the alley where we can't see the sun. What wakes us up in the morning is the residual suffering, and what accompanies us at night is shame. But what do these things have to do with you? You're not like us. Look at your face, you are so happy. " He turned his head unhappily and threw the shuttle over the loom. The young king saw that the shuttle was tied with gold thread.

His heart trembled suddenly and asked the weaver, "What robe are you knitting?"

"This is the robe worn by the king of a small country when he was crowned," he replied. "What does it have to do with you?"

The young king let out a cry and woke up from his dream. Ah! He is in his room. Through the screen window, he saw a big silver moon hanging in the vast sky.

Soon, he walked into another dream. Through the fog curtain, he saw himself lying on the deck of a big ship, with a hundred slaves rowing. The captain sat on the blanket next to him. This man looks like ebony and wears a red silk scarf on his head. A pair of big silver earrings hung on his thick ears, and he held an ivory scale in his hand.

Other slaves paddling were exposed to the hot sun except for a rag around their waist to hide their shame; Everyone is tied to his neighbor by a chain. The hot sun shone directly on them, and some executives ran up and down the aisle, beating them with whips. They stretched out their thin arms and pulled up heavy paddles. Salt water splashed from the paddle.

Finally, they came to a small bay and began to measure the water depth. A breeze blew from the shore and covered the deck and spinnaker with a thin layer of red sand. Three Arabs rode very close and pointed their spears at them. The captain took a bow and shot an arrow at the throat of an Arab. The man fell heavily into the waves on the shore, and his two companions rode away. A woman with a yellow veil rode a camel and followed slowly. She looked back at the body from time to time.

When the captain ordered to anchor, the man in black did so, and then took out a heavy rope ladder with lead from the bottom. The captain threw the rope ladder into the sea and tied the ladder head to two iron posts. Then several supervisors seized the youngest slave, took off his fetters, covered his nostrils and ears with wax, and tied a big stone around his waist. Then, tired, he climbed down the rope ladder and disappeared into the sea. Where he sank, there were several bubbles floating on the water. Some slaves looked at the sea curiously. A shark driver sat in the bow and drummed the drums monotonously.

Soon, the young slave surfaced, gasping for breath, holding the rope ladder in his left hand and a pearl in his right. The black man snatched the pearl from his hand and immediately threw him into the sea. The slaves fell asleep on the oars.

In this way, the young slave repeated the same action and brought a beautiful pearl every time he came up. The captain weighed the pearls one by one and put them all in a small green bag.

Looking at all this, the young king wanted to know the reason, but somehow his lips seemed to be enchanted and could not be opened anyway. Black people keep talking. They quarreled over a string of bright beads. Two white cranes are flying around the boat.

The pearl brought by the young slave for the last time is more beautiful than all the pearls in Omaz, because it is as round as the full moon and whiter than the stars. But his face is whiter than this bead. As soon as he fell on the deck, blood flowed out of his ears and nostrils. He shivered and stopped. The black man shrugged his shoulders and threw his body into the sea.

At this time, the captain took the beads in his hand and smiled on his gloomy face. He put it on his forehead and bowed his head. "It should be used to decorate the scepter of the little king." When he finished, he signaled the black man to break down.

Hearing this, the young king suddenly opened his eyes, sat up suddenly and went through the window. He saw dawn's long gray fingers picking up the waning moon. He fell asleep again and continued dreaming. His dream is this:

He dreamed that he was walking through a dark forest with strange fruits and beautiful and poisonous flowers. When he passed by, the poisonous snake was biting him, and the colorful parrot screamed and flew through the Woods. The tortoise fell asleep in the boiling mud. The forest is full of monkeys and peacocks.

He walked on until he saw a large group of people working on a dry river bed at the end of the forest. Some of them crowded on the cliff like ants, dug some deep holes in the ground and went down there by themselves. Some people are chopping stones with big axes; Some people are groping in the sand. They uprooted the cactus and trampled the safflower at will. You call me and I call you. They are all busy, and no one is lazy.

Death and greed hide in the shadow of a cave, guarding them. Death said, "I'm tired. Give me a third and let me go. "

But greed shook his head and refused. She replied, "They are my servants."

Death asked her, "What's that in your hand?"

"Three grains of millet," she answered. "What does this have to do with you?"

"Give me one," said Death. "Plant it in my garden. Just give me one and I'll walk away. "

"Stop dreaming, I won't give it to you." Greed theory. She hid her hand in her sleeve.

Death smiled, slowly took out a cup from under his clothes and dipped it in the pool, so malaria came out of the cup. Malaria spread among people, and one third of them fell down and died. I saw a cold fog behind them, and countless water snakes wrapped around them.

When Greedy saw that one third of her servant had died, she burst into tears and kept beating her thin chest, crying very sadly. "You killed a third of my servants," she cried. "You go. There is a war in Tatar Mountain, and the kings of both sides are calling you. The Afghans killed the black cow and are heading for war. They beat shields with guns and put on iron helmets. What does my valley have to do with you? Why do you want to stay here? Go ahead and don't come again. "

"No," replied Death, "I won't leave until you give me a grain of millet."

But greed squeezed her hand and closed her teeth tightly. "I won't give you anything." She whispered.

Death smiled again. He picked up a black stone from the ground and threw it into the Woods. Then he came out of the wild pine forest with a fever and wore a red robe. She walked in the crowd, casually next to others, and everyone she met fell dead. Her feet crossed the grass, and people's eyes immediately became desolate.

Greed stared at death. "You are cruel," she cried. "You are so cruel. There was a famine in major cities in India, and the reservoirs in the cities dried up. Famine is also happening in major cities in Egypt, and locusts are flying from the desert. The Nile water did not rise to the shore, and the monks complained about Isis and Assiris. Go to those who need you, and stop killing my servant. "

"What you say is useless," said Death firmly. "Don't let me disappear until you give me a millet." "I won't give you anything." Greed theory.

Death smiled again. He put two fingers in his mouth. With a loud whistle, a girl floated from the air. The word "plague" was written on her forehead, and a group of thin eagles circled around her. Her wings covered the whole valley and everyone died.

Greedy walked through the Woods crying, jumped on his red horse and rode away. His horse runs faster than the wind. I don't know when the bottom of the valley was covered with many scaly monsters that emerged from the mud. A group of wolves are running in the sand, raising their nostrils and inhaling loudly.

Cried the young king. He said, "Who are these people? What are they looking for? "

"They are looking for rubies embedded in the king's crown." A man standing behind him replied.

The young king was taken aback. He turned around and saw a man dressed as a pilgrim with a silver mirror in his hand.

He turned pale and asked, "Which king?"

The pilgrim replied, "Look at this mirror, it will give you the answer."

The young king looked at the silver mirror, and the figure in the mirror made him shudder. It's himself. He let out a cry and woke up. Bright sunlight shone into the room. Outside the window, birds are singing in the garden and trees in another garden.

At this time, the command minister and civil and military officials came in to salute him, and the attendants brought him a golden robe and put the crown and scepter in front of him.

The young king looked at those beautiful things. He admitted that they were the most beautiful things he had ever seen in the world, but he remembered his dream and said to his ministers, "Put these things away. I don't want to wear them.

The courtiers were surprised, and some people laughed. They thought he was joking.

But Jesus said to them seriously, "Put these things away and hide them from me. Although today is my coronation day, I don't wear it. Because my robe was woven on a sad loom with painful hands. Ruby is covered with blood, and pearls are covered with death. "He told his courtiers all three dreams.

After listening to his three dreams, the courtiers looked at each other and whispered, "He must be crazy, because dreams are dreams after all, and illusions are just illusions after all." They are not true and deserve our attention. What does the life of those who work for us have to do with us? Shouldn't one eat bread without seeing the grower, or drink wine while talking to the grape gardener? "

At this time, a command minister first spoke: "Your Majesty, I implore you to put aside these gloomy thoughts and put on this beautiful robe and crown. Because if you don't have a royal costume, how will the people know that you are the king? "

"Is this really the case?" The young king looked at him and asked, "If I didn't have a robe, wouldn't they recognize me as the king?"

"that's right, your majesty." The commanding minister said loudly.

"I used to think that I really had an emperor," replied the young king, "but maybe you are right. But I still don't wear this robe or this crown. Just as I dressed when I entered the palace, I have to dress up now. "

Say that finish, he waved the courtiers to step down, leaving only a servant one year younger than him to serve him. He took a bath with clear water, opened a big paint box and took out the coarse sheepskin coat he wore when he showed the sheep to the shepherd in the mountains. He carried them on his back and held a shepherd's cane in his hand.

Looking at his costume, the valet stared at his big blue eyes and reminded him, "Your Majesty, I have seen your royal robe and scepter, but where is your crown?"

Hearing this, the young king conveniently broke off a thorn crawling on the windowsill. Bend it in a circle and wear it on your head. "This is my crown." He replied.

When the young king got dressed, he went out of his house and came to the hall. The nobles were waiting for him.

As soon as he appeared, there was an uproar in the hall. The nobles shouted to him, "Your Majesty, the people are waiting to see their king, but you pretend to be a beggar." Some people said angrily, "He has lost the face of our country and is not worthy to be our host." But he didn't answer a word and went straight over. He walked down the bright marble stairs, out of the bronze gate, got on his horse and went straight to the chapel, with the little housekeeper at his side.

Along the way, the people shouted and laughed at him, saying that he was a beggar, not a king.

He stopped his horse and said, "No, I am the king." He told people his three dreams.

As soon as the young king had finished speaking, a man came out of the crowd and said to him painfully, "Your Majesty, don't you know that the life of the poor comes from the luxury of the rich? We live on your generosity and your bad habits give us bread to eat. It is difficult to work for a strict host, but it is even more difficult to find a host who wants us to work. Do you think crows will feed us? What are your remedies for these things? You will say to the buyer,' You have to pay so much for this.' He said to the seller,' Do you have to sell it at this price?' ? I don't believe it. So you'd better go back to your palace and put on your purple robe and beautiful clothes. What do you have to do with our pain? "

"Aren't the rich and the poor brothers?" Asked the young king.

"Yes," the man replied, "the rich brother's name is Cain."

With tears in his eyes, the young king slowly came to the door of the church amid people's complaints. Soldiers at the gate stopped him and said, "What are you looking for here?" ! Only the king can enter this door. "

This sentence angered him. "I am the king." He shouted, pushed away the captain of the guard and went in.

The old master looked at the clothes that the shepherd beside him dressed the young king in surprise, rushed forward and said in a trembling voice, "Son, is this the king's clothes?" So what kind of crown should I put on you? What kind of scepter should I put in your hand? In fact, this should be your happiest day, not a humiliating day. "

"Then you shouldn't wear clothes made by sad people." Said the young king. Then he told the bishop about his three dreams.

After listening to his words, the master frowned and said, "Son, I am an old man who has experienced many things. I know there are many bad things in this vast world. Fierce bandits ran down from the mountain, kidnapped some children and sold them to the Moors. The lion lay waiting for the caravan to pass by, catching camels to eat. The wild boar is digging millet in the ravine, and the fox is biting vines on the mountain. Pirates looted the coast. They burned fishing boats and robbed fishing nets. Lepers live in salt fields and build houses with reed stalks, and no one can go near them. Beggars live on the streets, wandering around and fighting for food with dogs. Can you stop these things from happening? Will you sleep with lepers and let beggars eat with you? Will you ask the lion to obey your command and the wild boar to obey your will? Isn't the person who creates poverty smarter than you? Therefore, I don't approve of your practice. I'd like to see you go back to your palace, make a happy face, put on clothes suitable for the status of a king, put on a golden crown for you, and hold a scepter inlaid with pearls in your hand. As for your dream, don't think about it. The burden of reality is too heavy for one person to bear, and the troubles of the world are too great for one heart to bear. "

"You shouldn't say such things in this sacred place." The young king said that he strode past the bishop, climbed the steps of the altar and stood in front of the image of Christ.

He stood in front of the image of Christ. On his right hand and left hand, he had a gorgeous golden basin, a holy grail for yellow wine and a bottle for holy oil. He knelt in front of the statue of Christ, and the candle beside the jewel-decorated shrine burned very brightly, and the fragrant smoke coiled in a blue circle under the dome. He bowed his head and prayed, and all the priests in hard vestments came down from the altar to make room for him.

Suddenly, the door of the church was knocked down and nobles rushed in with sharp weapons. "Where is the dreamer?" They are neither humble nor supercilious. "The king dressed like a beggar-where is the child who humiliated our country? We must kill him because he doesn't deserve to rule us. "

The young king bowed his head and prayed until the prayer was over, then turned to look at them, his eyes full of sadness.

At the moment, the sun shines on him through the stained glass window, and the sun weaves a golden robe around him, which is more beautiful than the king's robe made according to his intention. The dead shepherd's stick has blossomed, and the lily is whiter than the pearl. The dry thorns have blossomed, and the roses are redder than rubies. Lily is whiter than the best pearl, and its stem is bright silvery white. Roses are redder than the best rubies. Their leaves are made of gold leaves.

He stood there in the king's clothes, and the niche decorated with jewels opened, emitting extraordinary and magical light from the crystal of the brilliant "sacred cake table". He stood there in the king's costume. This place is full of the glory of God, and even the saints carved in the niche seem to be moving. He stood in front of them in a luxurious royal dress, the organ played music, the trumpeter blew his horn, and the singing children sang songs.

There was no noise or complaint. The people knelt down obediently, and the nobles took back their swords and gave him a present. The old leader turned pale and his hands trembled. "Great Lord, thank you for giving us an incomparable king." Then he knelt under the altar.

The young king walked down the altar without saying a word and walked through the crowd to the palace. Everyone bowed their heads, and no one dared to look up at his angelic face.