THE MIDAS TOUCH

we all know the story of the greedy king named
Midas. He had a lot of gold and the more he had
the more he wanted. He stored all the gold in his
vaults and used to spend time every day
counting it.
One day while he was counting a stranger came
from nowhere and said he would grant him a
wish. The king was delighted and said, "I would
like everything I touch to turn to gold." The
stranger asked the king, Are you sure?" The king
replied, "Yes." So the stranger said, "Starting
tomorrow morning with the sun rays you will get
the golden touch." The king thought he must be
dreaming, this couldn't be true. But the next day
when he woke up, he touched the bed, his

clothes, and everything turned to gold. He looked
out of the window and saw his daughter playing
in the garden. He decided to give her a surprise
and thought she would be happy. But before he
went to the garden he decided to read a book.
The moment he touched it, it turned into gold
and he couldn't read it. Then he sat to have
breakfast and the moment he touched the fruit
and the glass of water, they turned to gold. He
was getting hungry and he said to himself, "I
can't eat and drink gold." Just about that time
his daughter came running and he hugged her
and she turned into a gold statue. There were no
more smiles left.
The king bowed his head and started crying. The
stranger who gave the wish came again and
asked the king if he was happy with his golden
touch. The king said he was the most miserable
man. The stranger asked, "What would you
rather have, your food and loving daughter or
lumps of gold and her golden statue?" The king
cried and asked for forgiveness. He said, "I will
give up all my gold. Please give me my daughter
back because without her I have lost everything
wo rth having." The stranger said to the king,
"You have become wiser than before" and he
reversed the spell. He got his daughter back in
his arms and the king learned a lesson that he
never forget for the rest of his life.
What is the moral of the story?
1. Distorted values lead to tragedy.
2. Sometimes getting what you want may be a
bigger tragedy than not getting what you want.
3. Unlike the game of soccer where players can
be substituted, the game of life allows no
substitutions or replays. We may not get a
second chance to reverse our tragedies, as the
king did.