Once upon a time, (Don’t you just love stories that start that way?) there was a king named Midas. He was the king of quite a nice little country where the people were content, the scenery was very beautiful, and life went along well in a day to day, regular sort of way.

Midas was a very fair king too. Each week he would invite anyone who needed to speak to him to come to court and have his say. He was a fair judge when there was a dispute, which was not very often, and he cared for the people who lived in his kingdom even though he collected high taxes to add to his great wealth.

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Midas had a lovely palace with flowers and trees and fountains and servants, and just about anything a person could want. His beloved wife had died but he had a daughter who was the joy of his life. She was always happy and cheerful and the people loved her very much. Her hair was the color of spun gold and her eyes were the color of the sky. They said when she sang; the birds would come down from the trees and sit on her hand so gentle and kind was she.

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All right, there would be no story if this was all there was to it, so this was the problem-King Midas loved his people, his kingdom, and his beautiful daughter, but he also loved gold! Yes, he craved it. He had rooms full of it. He had statues made out of it. He even had a throne made entirely from it. Some days it was all he could think and dream about-how to get more gold.

He was still a good man and a good king, but he could not free himself of his obsession (oub sesh un) for more and more gold.

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One day, as he sat on his golden throne, he closed his eyes and imagined that his fondest dream had come true. He had dreamed this dream over and over again for many years. He dreamed that everything he touched would turn to gold. How wonderful his life would be if he were surrounded by gold everywhere he looked and as far as his eye could see. What a beautiful dream! When he had this vision, everything else in his life faded away.

On this day, as he had his dream yet again, he saw strange figure. It was a head that looked like flames were all around it. Somehow, though, the King was not afraid of this strange creature. Then, the creature spoke to him.

"King Midas, you have been a good king, a good man and a good father," said the creature. "Your only flaw has been your craving for something unimportant, your dream of a power you don’t really want."

"Oh, I do want this power. I want it more than I want anything in the whole world!" cried Midas.

"More than anything?" questioned the creature in his dream.

"Yes, yes, more than anything!" the king answered.

"All right, but I warn you. Gold, wealth and possessions are truly meaningless."

"No, no," cried Midas. "Please, I beg you, give me the Golden Touch and I will never ask another thing and never make another wish and never dream another dream, I swear!"

"Granted, then!" said the dream talker.

King Midas was beside himself with delight. He could hardly wait to put his finger on something and see if he really did have the Golden Touch. He got up from his throne and walked out to the garden. He reached out and touched his beautiful fountain. Lo and behold, the fountain, water and all, turned to lovely, shinning, gold. He touched the tip of his royal spear and that too turned instantly to gold. He touched a plate, a mug, a candleholder, and just for fun, he touched his daughter'’ old favorite Teddy Bear.

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Every single thing he touched was turned by magic into pure gold. And, of course, magic it was. The creature had indeed kept his word. Midas had "The Golden Touch!"

"Gold, gold, gold, everywhere. My life is complete and I have wealth beyond my wildest dreams!" The King shouted to all who could hear him. He was so excited at the thought of wealth and mountains of gold that the warning of the grantor of wishes was forgotten. He could only think of gold. His mind could think of nothing else.

The power of "The Golden Touch" had clouded his mind and he was beside himself. He raced out into the garden to tell his beloved daughter that his fondest life’s wish had been granted. He saw her across the garden and ran to her side and then (Can you guess what happens next, boys and girls?) he reach out to put his arms around her to share his fantastic news. As he touched her shoulder he froze at the feel of her skin. It was as hard and cold as-you guessed it-Gold!

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He jumped back in amazement. Just as he did, one of the beautiful birds who lived in the garden and always came to the princess, landed on the very spot on her shoulder where her father had touched her. The bird, a lovely white dove, cried out in fright and flew far up into the sky.

Just as that happened, the king remembered the warning he had received. Gold, wealth and possessions are truly meaningless. At long last, and when it was too late do anything, he knew the truth. Gold was meaningless. He would have traded it all for one golden hair on his daughter’s head and one smile from her lips.

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As he turned away in terrible pain, he felt a touch on his wrist and as he turned in his throne he felt his crown slip from his head.

"Oh, father, you must have fallen asleep again," said a gentle voice.

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You are right boys and girls. It was his daughter. His touch of gold had been only a dream. Did you guess that?

He jumped up from his throne and hugged his daughter to his heart. Yes, King Midas had learned a lesson. All the gold in the world was not a valuable or important as the love of his child.

That very day, the king gathered most of his great wealth and started to give it back to his subjects and to the poor of the kingdom. He became known as the best and wisest and most generous king in the entire world. What a wonderful thing. Isn’t that so much better than being known as the richest?

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                     GKin dMias laenred a sselno buota velo.