personality, reminding himself as occasion required (and occasion did
require), that not only had he acted for the good of the kingdom, but
he had wed great beauty and, eventually, personal power. He further
reminded himself that Jennifrella had made an adequate wife, even
after her face wrinkled and her tummy pudged, and that she had proved
to be a reasonable mother to his children. Whenever, in a moment of
inattention, he discovered himself pining to enjoy a witty remark or
some unguarded laughter, he quoted, hoping that it was true, the old
proverb that "we grow most not when something is given but when
something is taken away."

All in all, it was a reasonable life with much to be thankful for.
Jennifrella's joy was that Sir Philo, now King Philo, remained a
generous and loving husband even as her beauty faded; her only
regret was that Sir Fassade had married her younger and more amiable
sister, and both of them appeared to be altogether too happy.
Lucinda's joy was in her two lovely children, whom she took, once or
twice, to see the new king as he made a royal progress through their
village. Her only regret was that she could reveal only half her
heart as she told them what a good man he was. Sir Philo's joy was
that he had acted virtuously and now enjoyed a mostly pleasant life,
dispensing justice and mercy with care and humanity. His only regret
was that he had learned to shoot arrows.

Serendipity

A young man, in the confusion and embarrassment of youth, was walking
across the campus of a great university on the way to his philosophy
class. At the previous meeting, the professor had posed the
question, "If we do not know the purpose of something, how can we
know whether any aspect of it is good or bad?" This question,
together with the problem for the day, "Does man have a purpose?" had
taken complete occupation of the young man's mind, not because of any
intrinsic interest, but because the professor was in the habit of
calling on students and expecting a thoughtful response. So deeply
meditative was the young man that he neglected to observe his path
adequately, with the result that he soon bounced his head off an
unhappily placed tree in the middle of the lawn.

Picking himself up and dusting himself off, the young man looked
around to see if anyone had witnessed his inadvertent folly. The
only people nearby were two men, who, although they were just a dozen
feet away, were completely obl