-
by Edna Yaghi
- Once upon a time not too far from
the Land of the Rising Sun, there was a kingdom called Qari. Now
some people said that the king of Qari was just and others rumored
that he was the son of Satan. Perhaps in a way he was a little of
both. But no matter his character for this is not a tale of
personal morals. We’ve had enough exposure to this in the
notorious love story of Prince William and Princess Monica.
-
- Anyway, one day, horrible monsters
who ate women and children and old people invaded the land of Qari.
In fact, they ate anything human. These monsters were 20 feet tall
and had only one eye in the middle of their grotesque foreheads.
There were hundreds of them, no, maybe even thousands of them.
Qari’s king, whether just and noble or the son of Satan, was
helpless. He called forth his army but his soldiers were no match
for the Hercules strength of the Cyclops. Even worse, they had
insatiable appetites and for every day that passed, each Cyclops
greedily devoured at least 10 people. What was the king of Qari to
do?
-
- "I must get in touch with my
neighbors. They will come to my aid and help me fight off these
terrible demons!" said he, as he paced fretfully back and
forth across the smooth cool marble floor of one of his very grand
palaces. "Why, if they keep eating my people at this rate,
they soon will come after me! I can’t have that
happening!!!"
-
- So, he boldly, bravely called a
meeting of the kings of all his neighboring countries and served
them an enormous banquet, truly a feast for kings, as if they were
lacking in extravagant banquets or fine food. He held his feast in
the grandest of all his grand palaces. On a huge banquet table lay
every kind of fresh hand squeezed juice you could ever imagine or
desire and stuffed turkeys, lambs, goats and baby beef crammed
their serving trays to bursting, not to mention the baby pigeons,
pheasants, goslings and ducklings that abounded everywhere. Of
course, there were salads galore, casseroles, red and pink slimy
fish eggs, or in a more dignified language, caviar, and every
imaginable rice dish ever concocted. There was tea and coffee and
cocoa and other hot beverages served steaming to the noble guests.
Don’t worry about the starving common people, for it was enough
for them to read and hear about their king’s enormous banquet
and besides, they had to worry about their being served as dinner
themselves to the hungry Cyclops anyway.
-
- Well, under the glowing light of
emerald chandeliers, to the fragrant odor of soft blue and black
roses, golden jasmine and bright violets, the neighboring kings,
by now full and drowsy, nearly fell asleep to the accompaniment of
the most classical orchestra ever put together. But the king of
Qari was genuinely concerned that one day soon he might be the
tasty meal of a Cyclops so he impatiently tapped his spoon on one
of the many juice glasses that circled his dinner plate and stated
in a somber bass voice, "Please my fellow kings. We are faced
with a most serious matter. My country has been invaded, as you
know, by a plague of Cyclops who are eating my people by the
thousands every day. I’m not really overly concerned if some
peasants are devoured because poor people are a dime a dozen. What
really panics me is that one day the Cyclops will reach my palaces
and start feasting on my guards and then me! You are not safe
either. Soon the Cyclops will run out of people in Qari and invade
your kingdoms as well. We must act quickly and think of a plan to
defeat these invaders before they overrun all our kingdoms!"
-
- Some kings listened intently. Some
fell asleep face down right in the middle of their banquet dishes!
Some daydreamed of being back home in the comfort of their own
elaborate palaces. The king of Qari talked and talked and talked
some more, and tried to devise a rational plan to defeat the
Cyclops. When all his guests finally either were carried off
asleep to their own kingdoms or went on their own accords, the
king sat down on his royal plush scarlet velvet throne, donned his
royal emerald, sapphire and ruby crown and said in a very
satisfied voice, "Fine! Now my own hide will be safe, and
united, the others kings and I will drive these Cyclops to
extinction!"
-
- But he was wrong. Sooooooo wrong.
What the kings did instead was make secret separate treaties with
the Cyclops, promising them a supply of poor peasants on a steady
basis instead of the invasion of their countries. However, little
did they stop to think that soon they would all run out of
peasants to bribe the Cyclops with and then what would they do?
They never imagined standing together united, fearless, defeating
their enemies. Each king only thought of his own safety and
selfishness.
-
- As it is, the Cyclops have nearly
finished eating the people of Qari and are studying which
neighboring country to invade next. Where is the king of Qari?
Some say he has been devoured as well, grand palaces and all. Some
say he snuck away secretly in the deep of the Qari night to some
far away isolated island taking with him his diamonds, sapphires,
emeralds, rubies and gold to keep him warm on the long lonely days
that lie ahead. And some say he is an honored guest of the ever
charming Prince William and the quite lovely Princess Monica in
their exotic palace somewhere in the enchanted Lewinsky Land where
you can wish upon any star and your wildest dreams will come true.
-
-
Source:
-
- by courtesy & ©
2000 Edna Yaghi
