But with all
the honour conferred upon him the prince was not happy. The more he
obtained, the more he wished to possess. His eyes had but to see a
thing to make him desire its exclusive possession. Each day he
preferred one or more requests to his father, and because of his great
love for him, the king had not the heart to refuse anything to him.
Indeed, he was persuaded to bestow so many gifts upon his son that he
reserved scarcely anything for himself.

One day the prince was playing with the youth of his court, and after
the sport retired to the shade of a tree to rest, and his companions sat
down in a circle at a respectful distance from him. He then felt a gush
of pride stealing over him as he thought of his great power, at the
number and variety of his treasures, and he cried out boastfully that
there never was a boy so great, so rich and so favoured by his father,
as he had become. "My father," said he, "can deny me nothing. I have
only to ask, and it is given unto me."

Then one little slender boy with a thin voice said, "It is true, prince.
Your father has been very good to you. He is a mighty king, and he is
as generous as he is great. Still, I know of one thing that he cannot
give you--and it is certain that you will never possess it."

"What thing is that which I may not call my own, when I see it--and what
is it that is not in the king's power to give me?" asked the prince, in
a tone of annoyance.

"It is the moon," answered the little boy; "and you must confess
yourself that it is beyond the king's power to give that to you."

"Do you doubt it?" asked the prince. "I say to you that I shall possess
it, and I will go now and claim it from my father. I will not give him
any peace until he gives it to me."

Now it so happens that such treasures as are already ours, we do not
value so much as those which we have not yet got. So it was with this
spoiled prince. The memory of the many gifts of his father faded from
his mind, and their value was not to be compared with this new toy--the
moon--which he had never thought of before and which he now so ardently
coveted.

He found the king discussing important matters with the old men.

"Father," said he, "just now, while I was with my companions I was
taunted because I did not have the moon among my toys, and it was said
that it was beyond your power to give it to me. Now, prove this boy a
liar, and procure the moon for me, that I may be able to