A Story to Explore God’s Heart
“Fish. Yes. I would like some fish”, mused the king, sitting on his throne.
“The king wants fish!” shouted Lord Severas the High Chamberlain.
One lady-in-waiting mentioned to a scribe, “I think the king would like some pets.”
A flag bearer overheard this and excitedly ran to the Sir Wallace, the keeper of the purse. “The king mentioned he would like a bowl of fish! he yelled. With great haste the keeper ran across the castle yard, out the gate, across the moat and into the town below. Luckily he knew his nephew had a collection of fish, and would be proud to part with some to share with his beloved king. It was a rare thing to give the king something he didn’t have. So, with a wobbly gait and sloshing bowl of water and fish, he made his way back to the castle.
Sir Wallace arrived quickly, humbly bowed and placed the fish bowl on a table at the king’s left hand.
The king asked, “What’s this?”
“Your fish” answered the High Chamberlain.
A single “Ha” escaped the king’s lips. Then a “Hee, Hee”. Finally, he roared out a “Ho, Ho, Ho” so long and with gusto that everyone in the great hall laughed with him (they were always delighted when he was delighted).
Still chuckling, the king smiled, “You all misunderstand. I want to find all the fish without homes in all my kingdom. And come put them in the castle lake for me to take care of.”
“We can do that” all the palace courtiers replied. And so a great host of people journeyed far and wide, searching everywhere, bringing one here and two there depositing them in the king’s lake.
Every day the king would climb the highest tower in the castle and look out through his telescope. “Oh good! There’s more coming over the mountain pass! Looks like that squire has found sixteen more fish! Can you believe it?” he shared excitedly.
“Yes, sire” his attendants would all say. For you see the courtiers all took turns watching from the tower with him.
Then, every day the king would turn the telescope toward the castle lake. “Look at the red fins on that big one!” he cried. His courtiers saw where his excitement was going so they prepared a special bench right down at the very edge of the lake water, actually sitting in the low parts of the water. “This way I’ll be able to drop my feet among the fish” he confided. They nodded.
Every day the king would ask, “Are all the fish here yet? Are they ready for me to go see them?” He grew more and more excited as the lake filled with more and more fish.
The High Chamberlain announced, “Oh King, your fish are ready”.
Hearing that, the king’s face lighted just as if a lantern had been lit. He grabbed up the huge folds of his royal robes and dashed toward the end of the great hall. Losing his sandals and scattering his courtiers, he ran out the castle gate, leaving all the people to chase him down to the lakeside. Instantly sitting heavily down upon the royal bench, he leaned back and swung his legs around, plunging his bare feet into the water with a splash.
“Ho, ho, ho, let them come! Let them come!”shouted the king as he waved and clapped his hands with glee. “Bring me my buckets! Quickly!” The king had commanded that the kitchens prepare buckets of tasty fish food – much more than the fish could ever want.
With greedy fingers, the king reached out calling to them, “come here my sweeties – come here!” But the more he called, the more the fish moved away from him! The king was stunned.
His subjects had heard of the king’s planned visit to the lake and were spread all along the lake to celebrate with the king. “The fish are afraid of him” they all said.
The king sat staring into the water with a vacant look. Very slowly, the king pulled one foot and then the other out of the water. He stood up and trudged back to the castle. No one said a word or knew what to say. Sitting back down on the throne, the king murmured, “They won’t come to me”.
Finally, a single tear formed on the edge of his eye and slowly rolled down his cheek. One of the courtiers exclaimed, “look a tear!” Now everyone know that the tears of the king are full of magic.
At the far end of the great hall stood the king’s son. Now seeing the tear, he shouted “No!”, and began to run down the hall. All the courtiers watched with open mouths as the prince dove toward the king. Just before the tear could hit the floor of the great hall, the prince stretched out his hand and caught it! The prince stood up, holding the tear tightly in his fist.
“I know your thoughts my son” said the king with a sigh.
“Father, do not be sad that the fish are afraid of you,” replied the prince. “If they knew you like we all know you they would love you too.
Years later the people still remember the strange smile the prince had on his face as he continued, “I have an idea that will help the fish”. That smile was the same color as the magnificent golden robes the prince also wore. “With your permission father.” The prince turned and walked out of the great hall, still firmly holding the king’s tear in his fist. As he walked, the prince loosened the string of his royal cape, dropping it to the floor.
The subjects gasped as one, “what are you doing, oh prince?” they cried.
“I shall become a fish,” he replied. With that he walked out of the castle and down to the same bench where the king had been before. He removed his jewelled slippers, his velvet trousers, his golden crown. A small boy was all that remained, shivering slightly in bright blue underclothes at the water’s edge.
“You can’t do this your Highness! But why?” shouted the courtiers, “We don’t understand.”
“It’s for the love of the king,” he replied. And simply opening his fist over his head, the prince let the tear fall. At once a splash was heard and all that could be seen was a small, bright blue fish swimming slowly away into the dark water.
The prince, now a fish thought it wouldn’t do if he went to the other fish right away. “They’d think I was crazy and I don’t even know how to swim well yet,” he mused. And so he practiced swimming and breathing and other fish stuff all afternoon.
That night, the king sat on his throne wondering about his son, and wanted to be near him. So, after shushing the guards, he quietly slipped out of the castle all by himself and quietly sat down on the bench by the lake again. But this time he made no laugh, put no foot in the water, no hands clapped. But he brought a bucket of the special food.
Down by the water, the prince had been waiting for the approach of the king. “Oh father, can you hear me? Let your feet into the water so you will be next to me. Father, let me hear your voice. You know, I love to hear your voice when it rumbles. Father, feed me with the food that you have brought for me. I want no other food. Father, I am lonely. Reach your hands down and hold me for a little while. It’s dark here and I don’t know anybody yet.” And so the king and prince spent the night together.