call for the relief of a distressed
friend or the beheading of an enemy. He had absolute say over the
life or death, the happiness or suffering, of millions of people of
every rank and degree, from the most exalted noble in a seaside
mansion to the most unfortunate street urchin in a grimy and
stifling hovel. Such a thought sometimes gave the king half a
smile, but he was still not happy.

"Perhaps what the king needs is love," said the eunuch in charge of
the king's harem. "If he would marry a new variety of ever more
beautiful wives, he would perchance find happiness among them." So
the king decided to realize this scenario in three dimensions and
searched throughout his kingdom for the most desirable women he
could find. He found pretty ones and witty ones and laughing ones
and moody ones and smart ones and elegant ones and plain ones and
philosophical ones and decorated ones--women of every proportion,
size, color, personality, and talent, and he married a hundred of
them, some of whom loved him even more than those among the first
few dozen he was already married to. And the king found much
pleasure in his wives, but he was still not truly happy.

"The king will find happiness only in wisdom," said one of the
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 ha