Prince Herbert

            Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a prince named Herbert. All the people were envious of him, even the other princes themselves, because he had more riches than anyone in all of the land. He lived in the best, biggest, most brilliant castle that anyone could ever dream of seeing. Its towers were the tallest, its fences were the finest, and its gates were the grandest.

            One day, as Herbert climbed out of his bed covered in silk sheets, he thought to himself, “What shall I do today?” He went to his window, and pushed his velvet curtains to the side, so that the sun shone in. However, the sun was too bright for Herbert, and he squinted. A moment later, the sun didn’t seem so bright anymore, and Herbert was able to see clearly. He took a minute to gaze out at the land. “It seems a nice day for a walk.” Rani, the servant, knocked on Herbert’s door.

            “Is it my breakfast?” Herbert shouted, without even inviting Rani inside.

            “Why yes, my highness.” Poor Rani was still waiting outside Herbert’s room. The tray was very heavy, holding plate upon plate of Herbert’s favorite dishes.

            “What has taken you so long? I have been waiting forever,” Herbert lied. The truth was, as we know, that he had just gotten out of his bed only a moment ago.

            “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was late.”

            “Come in, put my food down and leave.”

            Rani did as she was told. She set the silver tray before Herbert, and left the room as fast as her legs would carry her.

            “What do I have to do to be treated well?” Prince Herbert asked as he sat down to eat his breakfast. “Mmm.” Herbert was eating his food so fast; one might laugh at the mess he made! In fact, people did laugh. Because every morning, Rani would leave the door open after she left his breakfast. And servant upon servant would walk by, only to see Herbert with his eyes closed, with food all over his face. They would all chuckle to themselves, and run away before Herbert noticed. Herbert never did notice, and morning after morning, the same thing happened.

            A little while later, Herbert set out for his walk. He took the path away from the castle, to the right, towards the rolling hills. The prince had been walking for a while, along the clear blue river, through the bright green trees, and he soon came upon a golden meadow. Then, before him, he saw something silver shining in the distance! Herbert could see it shining from all the way across the meadow, for it was the shiniest silver Herbert had ever seen in all of his years! Herbert ran to the other end of the meadow. “A sword!” he cried. “And look at the jewels that surround it! I must take it home with me. Who deserves this more than I?” And with that, Herbert rushed home, carrying the sword at his side.

            By the time Herbert found his way home, the sun had set, and day had turned into night. Herbert ran up the stairs, bumping into Rani on the way to his room. He shut the door behind him, and set the sword next to his bed. His stomach grumbled; he was hungry again! And so again he ran, this time down the stairs.

            Now, while Herbert was busy filling his mouth with food, his servant, Rani, was upstairs cleaning up his mess.

            “I don’t understand why I must do everything for him. Is it really that difficult for a grown boy to clean up?”

            Now, while Rani was saying that to herself something next to Herbert’s bed distracted her. She realized only a second later that it was a sword; a sword she had never seen in her life, not in all her years in the palace. “Why, Herbert must have stolen it. I don’t know why I was surprised.” She heard Herbert’s loud footsteps coming up the stairs, and rushed out of the room.

            “Rani, please have my food ready right when I get home next time.”

            “Yes, sir,” Rani replied, although that request made no sense. Rani wasn’t part of the kitchen staff. She had nothing to do with making the food.

            The next morning, Herbert went through the same routine as he did every morning. He had his breakfast, was rude to Rani, and then went on his walk. Not soon after Herbert had left his castle, he noticed a red velvet bag. Of course Herbert ran right to it. He picked the bag up and opened it. Inside were jewels upon jewels. “Why, I must keep this. I have never seen so many jewels in my life!” Herbert continued on his walk and took his path by the river, but got lost somewhere along the way. Herbert didn’t notice for a long while. He just kept walking.

            “Why, this doesn’t look familiar at all. I haven’t taken a wrong turn; I never get lost on this walk. No, this must be the right way. I will just keep going.” Herbert walked and walked and walked, and finally had to sit down to catch his breath, for the velvet bag was very heavy. He sat down on a rock only a couple steps away from him. “Hmm,” he said to himself. “No, this just isn’t right.” Herbert took a minute to look around and saw a man not far in the distance. “Why, maybe he can help me find the way.” Herbert got up and walked towards the man.

            “Where is the castle?” Herbert shouted.

            The man, who was busy gardening, was very startled and dropped his shovel.

            “Young man, do you have any manners?” The man picked up his shovel and continued to garden.

            “I have gotten lost, and I can’t find my way home. Just tell me where the castle is.”

            “You, the prince, can’t find your way back to your own castle?” The man began to laugh, and continued to do so, until he noticed the velvet bag at Herbert’s side.

            “Sir, if you tell me the way, I will give you something in return.” Herbert thought long and hard about what he should give the stranger before him, and, upon seeing the gardener gazing at the velvet bag, decided to let him choose one jewel for himself. “That is more than enough of a reward,” Herbert thought to himself. To the man he said, “If you point me in the right direction, you can choose any jewel from out of this bag.”

            “One jewel? Please, Prince Herbert, tell me what you have ever done to deserve my kindness. As prince of this country, you have done absolutely nothing. Your servants all say you are the laziest person they have ever laid eyes on. There are stories upon stories that come from the castle about how you never do anything for yourself. And I can tell right now that you are the greediest boy I know. You are already one of the richest princes in the land, yet whatever riches you find, you think you deserve to keep?”    For once in Herbert’s life, he was speechless.

            “I have already lost my most valuable possession, my sword, and I don’t have hope I will ever get it back, unless some kind person has the heart and soul to return it to me,” the gardener said.

            Herbert thought about what the old man had just said, and realized that maybe the sword he had found was the same sword the man had lost. He almost told the man he would give him his sword back, but instead decided to keep it for himself. Again Herbert asked for the old gardener’s help to get home.

            The gardener would not tell Herbert which way the castle was. Herbert begged. He even told him he would give him the whole bag of jewels. But the gardener finally went back inside his house and locked the door. Herbert was left alone. He was sad, and didn’t know which way to go. He walked away from the forest. Finally, Herbert came upon a hill. There before him he saw the castle. It must have been midnight when he reached the big castle door. Herbert was exhausted when he went to bed, but thoughts filled his head and Herbert found it very difficult to fall asleep, but finally he did.

            The next morning, Herbert woke up to find his breakfast sitting before his bed. He got up and stood next to the silver platter filled with food. But instead of eating it, he walked out of his room and found Rani cleaning.

            “Rani, you don’t need to work for me anymore.”

            Rani was so startled by Herbert’s words that she dropped her bucket of soap and warm water. Soon water was flowing past Rani and the prince, and it soon trickled down the stairs. Rani was expecting the prince to yell at her, but he said nothing about the mess she made.

            “There are no words I can say to make up for how I have treated you – all I can say is that I’m sorry. And that I give you this in return.” Herbert was holding the velvet bag, and handed it to Rani.

            Rani took one long look at what he had placed in her hands. “Is this a joke?”

            “I know it might seem that way, coming from me. But it isn’t a joke. Take those riches and have a happy life.” And with those words, Herbert ran as fast as he could. Soon he was far from the castle. A short while later, he came upon the gardener, who immediately looked up when Herbert stopped in front of him.

            “You’re still lost? Not only are you selfish, it appears you have no brains as well. Maybe I was a little too harsh,” the gardener said as he looked away.

            “I see an emptiness in your eyes that hopefully this will fill.” A second later, Herbert had placed the sword he had found on his walk, and had sat it before the gardener.

            Soon, tears of joy were falling down the gardener’s cheeks. “Wherever did you find this?” he managed to say.

            “When I was out walking. My first instinct was to take it home with me. When I made it back to my castle last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about what you had said. And I want to thank you. Everything you said was true. I’m lazy, and greedy, and that has to change. Thanks to you, I realize that.” With those words, Herbert went away, back to his castle. He was the happiest he had ever been. Soon after, Prince Herbert was known as the kindest prince in all the land. He went from village to village, serving his people, and helping to fix whatever problems the country faced Instead of taking things he found for himself, like swords, or velvet bags of jewels, he would try to find the owner, and if he didn’t succeed at that, he would give them away to families who needed them. Prince Herbert had learned one of the most important lessons you can ever be taught – that giving is a million times more rewarding than receiving.