On the way to the palace Hishiryo told the man who was sent to pick him up the story of a proud King who was envious about his butler that used to be happy all the time.
So one day the King called the butler and asked him:
-Why are you so happy?
-That’s the way I am I suppose.
-How much do you get payed?
-One coin of gold.
-How often? – Insisted the king.
-Every twelve years.
“The king couldn’t believe it so he threaten him:”
-You must have a secret for your happines, and I want you to tell me about it now! Other wise I am going to command to kill you!
-Kill me then majesty, I have no secret. -He replied with a sincere smile and then left singing on his way to the kitchen.
The king called one of his wise men and asked him about the secret of his butler to be happy.
-He simply is happy without the coin.
-What coin, whats do you mean? – Asked the King confused and upset.
-You don’t want to be happy your self, you want not to see him happy, don’t you majesty?
-Yes – The king had to accept his bad desire.
- You are gonna need a sack with 99 gold coins in it. – The wise men told the king. -And send someone to left the sack somewhere he can find it.
And that’s what king commanded to do. The butler found the sack and saw the gold coins. He started counting them and when he found out they were only 99 and not 100 got mad. He couldn’t believe there was only one lacking.
The butler started thinking about what could he do in order to get the one coin it was missing to complete the 100 coins. He couldn’t simply work since it’d take him 12 more years to get the other coin and he would need not to spend it although he nedeed to survive, so that coin couldn’t help him to have the 100 coins. Since then he started thinking over and over again on how to do to get an extra gold coin.
Next day when he arrived his face had changed he was angry, because of the one single coin that it was missing.
-How you did it? -Asked the King to his wise man when he noticed the butler wasn’t as happy as always.
-There’s missing a single coin in order to have 100 and he thinks that coin is going to satisfice him, when he was already happy with only 1 coin every 12 years. He was already happy with what he had not. He didn’t had the coin he is looking for now. When he got the 99 coins he started feeling frustrated for the one coin he never had because not having 100 instead of 99 makes him feel empty. We only need to know how to be happy with what we have not, not with what you have but with what you have not.
-It remind’s me the Emperor. – Joked one of the men who had pick up Hishiryo.
Once they arrived to the palace they were already smiling as well. Their life perception had already changed without them even notice. They were all laughing and yelling when they arrived to the precense of the emperor.
Ache 