The Mad King

Once there was a king who loved his small dog more than anything else in the world. But the king’s palace was very large and his dog was very small. It was easy to be separated.

So the king tied a bell around his dog’s collar, to hear it from many rooms away. However, even then the dog would get lost, occasionally for days at a time. The king resolved that they must live somewhere smaller.

Although his royal advisers thought he was mad, the king and his dog moved to more modest accommodations. Their second home had fewer rooms than the palace, but still his dog would get lost and the king couldn’t hear the bell. So he resolved to move yet again.

Although his royal advisers thought he was more mad than before, the king commandeered a sheepfold from one of his subjects. Now he and his dog could live in the same small room. The king felt satisfied, but now he became annoyed by the constant ringing of the bell.

Finally he arrived at a compromise. The king would commandeer the entire sheep meadow, so that he and his dog could live outside. Now there was nowhere for the dog to get lost and the king would’ve have to endure the ringing of the bell all the time.

But on their first night a pack of wild dogs ate the king’s pet. They tore the small dog to pieces — one of them even ate his collar. The next morning the king couldn’t find his small dog anywhere. He listened for the bell, but he couldn’t hear it. From that day forward, he wandered his kingdom from glen to dale and never slept in the same place twice, truly driven mad by his missing pet