When the earth was a much younger place most of its peoples came under the rule of the noble King Cannilope The First. He was known by several different names such as Cannilope the Canny, and Cannilope the All Knowing, or simply Cannilope the Great. He was famed for distributing wise and sound judgements on wrong doers. The good revered him whilst the bad feared him.
However he did have a serious problem—knowledge, or rather the lack of it.
As king he travelled far and wide from north to south, and from east to west over his lands, and as he visited different places he became more and more aware of the many questions to which he had no answer.
As time went on he developed a desperate thirst for knowledge. His ultimate aim was to know everything that there was to know in the world.
He was wise enough to realise that this was something of a difficult task, made harder by the fact that the sum of human knowledge was being added to every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day.
So he decided that it would be more efficient if the knowledge came to him instead of his chasing it all over the globe. He built an enormous library in which to house the data, and employed a dozen secretaries to manage the information and to advise him of anything new that they were recording. His chief clerk made a comprehensive list of all the different kinds questions which were likely to bring about some new knowledge.
The king then ordered individuals to visit the palace and add their knowledge to his library. He had a long list of such people—wise men, learned men, experts in chemistry, in mathematics, in biology, in astronomy, in archaeology, in fact in every known discipline. They were all ordered to attend his court and give of their knowledge. For every question the king proposed he demanded an answer.
Questions like `Where do rain drops come from? Why is fire hot? Why are some women difficult to please?’ And thousands more he asked and to which he received an answer.
And so his library grew, and continued to grow.
And so the king gained more and more knowledge.
His name spread wide. If a citizen needed the answer to a question—he, or she, might draft a polite letter to the king with their query and would always receive an answer. And King Cannilope’s wisdom became famed the whole world over.
BUT—
In spite of all this knowledge King Cannilope had a problem—he did not know when he knew everything that there was to know.
You see his dilemma?
There always seemed to be something new waiting round the corner.
Having consulted Herbert the wise, he was told by that worthy that there was no way of answering that particular question. So—In sheer desperation he made a secret appointment to visit all seeing Patricia the witch.
* * *
There is no doubt that the all powerful King Cannilope The First was nervous, as was everyone who visited this fount of wisdom. If one offended her you were likely to be turned into a frog or something much worse. As she had aged she had become very crotchety and even a powerful king like Cannilope had to be polite.
Being king however did give him certain advantages. He as able to jump the queue for example.
`So what do you want?’ She said in her aged centuries old voice. But she already knew. `You’ll have to be quick I’ve two hundred and odd people waiting for answers. So come on out with it lad.’
King Cannilope stroked his bushy black beard of which he was inordinately proud—and with all the authority he could muster said—
`I want to know when will I know everything?’
At this the old crone cackled as at a good joke.
`Maybe you will never know.’ she said, struggling to speak for mirth.
`Hold on I will consult the ancients.’
At this she closed her dark eyes and became very still.
The king had no idea how long she stayed like this, but it was quite a while.
Then quite suddenly her eyes opened and in a fit of laughter she gave her answer.
`All I can determine is that—WHEN THAT BEARD OF YOURS TURNS WHITE—THEN YOU WILL KNOW EVERYTHING. Now please leave.’
The king wanted more but she had closed her eyes and was silent. He placed the bag of gold he had brought on the table but there was no reaction from the witch. So the king left.
He kept his visit and the conclusion to himself. It was a Royal Secret, but he did make a record of it in his will for future generations.
Now this made King Cannilope keener than ever to know everything, and he pursued his quest across the land with great vigilance.
At the end of every day he would carefully examine his beard in the mirror scrutinising it for even one white hair—but his beard remained stubbornly and completely black.
Even in ripe old age the king asked more questions, recorded the answers—and checked his beard. But he failed again and again to find just one white strand. His beard persisted in keeping its shiny black hairs.
King he was, but he was also mortal and at the age of one day short of one hundred years of age he died peacefully in his sleep.
His body was prepared for it to lie in its coffin in the palace Great Hall `In State’ for his many subjects to come and see him and pay their last respects.
Now it is recorded that those people who saw him on that first day reported that he looked troubled. Above his glorious black beard his features were wrinkled with concern.
It was at dawn on the second day of the king’s lying in state that a servant responsible for dusting the Great Hall disturbed the whole palace as he rushed about shouting incoherently. After they calmed him down, trembling with fear, he said—`IT’S THE KING—HIS BEARD IS WHITE.’
And sure enough when they went to look at the king they saw that beneath his lower lip was a fine bush of a beard of pure white hair—whilst on his face was a most beautiful smile. The effect was that of a man totally at peace.
JML
16/8/2011