King Medea loved gold more than anything in the world. He cherishes his crown mainly because it is made of precious gold. If there is anything he likes, or half as much as he likes gold, it is the little girl playing happily around his seat. But the more Medes loves her daughter, the stronger her desire to pursue wealth. A fool thinks that the best thing he can do for his precious daughter is to leave her the biggest pile of Huang Cancan gold ever. Therefore, all his thoughts and all his time are devoted to this sole purpose. If he happens to see a golden sunset, he hopes that these clouds are real gold, and he can safely stuff these gold and clouds into his sturdy box. When little Mary King came running to meet him with a bunch of Jin Fenghua and dandelions in his hand, she often said, "Hey, hey, kid! If these flowers are as golden as their appearance, they are worth picking! "
However, before he pursued wealth so crazily, King Medus liked flowers very much. He has a garden with the largest, most beautiful and most beautiful roses that have never been seen or smelled in the world. These roses are still planted in the garden, just as King Medes used to look at them all day and smell their fragrance. They are as big, as lovely and as fragrant. But now, if he looks at them, he is just calculating how much the garden will be worth if each of the countless rose petals is thin gold. And although he used to love music (regardless of the legend that his ears are like donkey's ears), now the only music of the poor Medes is the jingle of gold coins hitting each other. Finally (just as people will become more and more stupid if they don't pay attention to making themselves smarter), Medes becomes extremely unreasonable; He can hardly bear to see or touch anything that is not gold. Therefore, he got into the habit of staying in dark and gloomy rooms most of the time, in the underground and cellar of his palace. His wealth is kept here. Whenever Mitis wants to find special happiness, he goes to this gloomy cave, which is not much better than the dungeon. He carefully locked the door here, then took out a bag of gold coins, or a gold cup the size of a washbasin, or a heavy gold bar, or a lot of sand, and took it from the dark corner of the room to the long and narrow sunshine, which came through the window like a dungeon. He cherishes sunshine, not for anything else, but because his baby can't shine without the help of sunshine. So he counted the gold coins in the bag; Throw gold bars up and catch them when they fall; Pick up the golden sand and slide your fingers; Watching your ridiculous face reflected around the polished golden cup; And said to himself, "Oh, Medea, the rich king of Medea, how happy you are!" "But his face reflected from the smooth surface of the golden cup has been making fun of him. It's funny to see this. This face seems to be aware of his foolish behavior and wants to make fun of him mischievously.
Mercedes claims to be a happy person, but he feels that he is not getting the happiness he deserves. Unless the whole world becomes his treasure house and the whole world is the gold that should belong to him, his happiness will never reach its peak.
Now, I don't need to remind smart people like you that many things happened a long time ago when King Mitis was alive. If they happened on our land today, they would be considered incredible. On the other hand, not only do we find many things happening today incredible, but ancient people will also be dumbfounded by these things. In a word, I think our time is stranger than ancient times, but I must tell my story anyway.
One day, Mitis was playing in his treasure house as usual, when he saw a shadow falling on piles of gold. He looked up and suddenly saw the image of a stranger standing in the bright and narrow sunshine! He is a ruddy and amiable young man. Is it because of the illusion of king Medea that everything is covered with yellow, or because of other reasons, he always feels that the smile of strangers when they look at him contains a golden light. Of course, although the stranger's figure blocked the sunshine, now there is a brighter light shining on all the piled treasures, and even the farthest corner is illuminated by this light. When strangers laugh, it's like a flame, a spark, and everything is lit up.
Medeci knew that he locked the door carefully with his key, and that the power of ordinary people could never break into his treasure house, so he concluded that the bearer must not be a mortal in the world. Who is he? There is no need to tell you. At that time, the earth was still a new thing, and gods with supernatural power often came, and these gods often half-jokingly and half-seriously cared about the worries and joys of men, women and children. Mercedes has met such a god before, so naturally she won't feel unhappy when she meets another god. The stranger's eyes, if not compassion, are indeed very kind and kind; It is totally groundless to suspect that he has any malice. Maybe he's here to help misty. So, what can I do to help besides increasing the many treasures of Medea?
The stranger looked around the room, and his dazzling face was even more radiant in front of all the gold treasures piled there. He turned to Mitis again.
"You are a rich man, my friend Mitis!" He said. "I don't believe there are other rooms in the world with so much gold."
"I have not accumulated less-not less," Mercedes replied in a dissatisfied tone. "But, after all, when you consider that I have spent my whole life accumulating this gold, it is insignificant. If a person can live for a thousand years, maybe he will get rich one day! "
"what!" The stranger exclaimed, "So you are not satisfied?"
Medici nodded.
"How can I satisfy you?" The stranger asked, "I'm curious to know."
Mercedes hesitated for a moment, thoughtfully. He had a hunch that this stranger with a happy smile and shining golden light must have the strength and purpose to satisfy his greatest wish when he came here. Therefore, now is a lucky moment. No matter what he wants or asks for, as long as he asks, he can get everything possible, even seemingly impossible. So he thought and thought, thought and thought. In his imagination, a golden mountain is stacked on a golden mountain, and he can't imagine that the growth of the golden mountain is endless. Finally, King Medes came up with a good idea. This idea is as beautiful as his favorite luminous metal.
He looked up at the radiant stranger's face.
"Well, Mitis," said the visitor, "I see you have finally come up with something that will satisfy you. Tell me your wish. "
"That's it," Mercedes replied. "I'm tired of spending so much energy on collecting wealth. I tried my best, but I saw that the gold pile was still so small. I hope everything I touch becomes gold! "
The stranger smiled and opened his mouth wide, as if a round of red sunshine was shining in the room, shining on dark valleys and yellow leaves in autumn-gold nuggets and gold nuggets are like yellow leaves-scattered in the valley under the sunshine of Hui Jin.
"Golden touch!" He shouted, "You are really commendable, my friend Mercedes, for having such a wonderful idea. But are you sure this will satisfy you? "
"Of course," said Mercedes.
"With the touch of gold, you will never regret it again?"
"How can you regret it?" Mercedes asked, "in order to get the greatest happiness, I don't need anything else."
"As you wish," replied the stranger, waving goodbye. "At sunrise tomorrow, you will find that you have been endowed with alchemy."
As a result, the figure of the stranger became unusually bright, and Mercedes closed his eyes involuntarily. When he opened his eyes again, he only saw a golden sunshine in the room. Around him, the precious metals he has been hoarding all his life are shining.
The story didn't mention whether Mitis could fall asleep that night. However, whether awake or asleep, he feels like a child: just like he will get a beautiful new toy the next morning. Anyway, when dawn broke on the top of the mountain, King Medes was fully awake, so he put his arm out of bed and touched what he could touch. He is anxious to prove whether the golden touch promised by strangers has really come true. So he put his finger on the chair beside the bed and other things, but to his great sadness and disappointment, these things are exactly the same. Indeed, he was very worried that the radiant stranger was just a dream figure, or that the stranger was just joking with him. How pitiful it would be if Mitis, no matter how high his expectations are, can only be satisfied with the little gold he pieced together in the ordinary way, instead of turning it into gold with his fingers. During this time, the white belly of the fish only appeared in the sky before dawn, and a ray of sunshine appeared on the horizon, but Mitis could not see the sunshine. He lay glumly, distressed by the disillusionment of his hopes. He felt more and more melancholy until the first ray of sunshine entered the window and dyed the ceiling above him golden. Mercedes thought the bright and dazzling golden sunlight reflected strangely on the white sheets. He looked at it more carefully, and to his great surprise and joy, he found that this linen fabric had become the purest and brightest gold fabric! With the first ray of sunshine, he touched the gold!
Medeci suddenly jumped up, ecstatic, running around the house, clutching at anything she met. He grabbed a bedpost and it immediately became a hollow gold post. He opened the curtains so that he could see the miracle he had created more clearly. The ears of the curtain became heavy in his hand-a pile of gold. He picked up a book from the table. As soon as he touched it, the book appeared in the colorful and hot books he often encountered. And when his fingers turned page by page, hey! It became a bundle of thin gold coins, and all the wisdom contained in the book became difficult to read. He put on his clothes in a hurry and was ecstatic to see himself in a gorgeous gold suit. Although the weight of this gold suit added a little burden to him, it still kept its soft nature. He took out the handkerchief that little Mary sewed for him, and it turned into gold. The lovely child's neat and beautiful stitches beside the handkerchief turned into gold thread!
For some reason, this last change did not make King Medes very happy. He would rather keep his little daughter's handicraft crystal as it is, just as she climbed onto his knee and put it in his hand.
But it's nothing to worry about. Medici took his glasses out of his pocket and put them on so that he could see what he had done more clearly. At that time, the glasses used by ordinary people had not been invented, and the kings had already put them on. Otherwise, where did Mercedes get the glasses? However, to his great confusion, although his glasses were excellent, he found that he could not see with them. This is the most natural thing in the world, because as soon as the glasses are taken out, the transparent lenses become yellow gold coins, losing the role of glasses. This makes Mercedes feel very inconvenient, that is, he can never buy a pair of working glasses with all his property.
"However, it's nothing," he thought very calmly. "If we expect to get huge benefits, we have to accept some minor inconveniences. Alchemy is worth sacrificing a pair of glasses, at least not vision itself. My own eyes can be used for general purposes. Little Mary King will grow up soon and can read to me. "
The wise king Medes was in high spirits because of his good luck. He felt that the palace was not wide enough to accommodate him. So he went downstairs, laughing, and saw that the escalator railing he was holding when he went downstairs turned into glittering gold bars. He lifted the latch (it was copper just now, and it turned into gold as soon as his fingers left) and went into the garden. He saw many beautiful roses in full bloom here, and many newly opened and very beautiful roses in bud. The morning breeze blows gently and the fragrance of roses is very intoxicating. Their soft roses are one of the most beautiful scenery in the world; How gentle and dignified these roses look, and how sweet and quiet they are.
But Medea can turn roses into something more precious to him. So he walked up and down among the flowers and practiced his golden touch tirelessly until the insects in the stamens of every flower, every bud and even some flowers turned into gold. When this feat was completed, King Medes was invited to have breakfast. The morning air made his appetite big, and he hurried back to the palace.
I really don't know what the king's breakfast was like in the Mites era, and I can't investigate without the current story. However, I am sure that I have prepared hot pancakes, a few small trout, baked potatoes, boiled eggs and coffee for King meadows himself, and a plate of bread soaked with milk for his daughter Jin Mary. This breakfast is very suitable for offering sacrifices to the king. King Medes had never had such a good breakfast before.
Little Mary hasn't come out yet His father ordered her to be called, and he sat at the table, waiting for the arrival of the child, so that he could have breakfast together. God really said that Medes really loved his daughter. Thanks to good luck, he loved her even more this morning. After a while, he heard her crying all the way in the corridor. This situation surprised him, because Mary King is one of the happiest little people you have ever seen in a sultry summer, and she seldom shed a tear in a year. When Mercedes heard her crying, he was determined to cheer up Mary King Jr. He wanted to make her feel unexpected happiness, so he lay prone on the table and touched his daughter's rice bowl (a porcelain bowl with beautiful patterns around it) and turned it into glittering gold.
At this moment, Mary King slowly and unhappily opened the door and wiped her eyes with an apron when she came in. She still sobbed as if her heart were about to break.
"Oh, my little girl!" Mercedes cried. "What's wrong with you on such a beautiful morning?"
Mary Kim did not take the apron away from her eyes, but held out a hand with a rose that Medea had just turned into gold.
"Beautiful!" Her father cried and said, "How can this beautiful golden rose make you cry?"
"Ah, dear father!" The child replied, sobbing and trying to say loudly, "It's not beautiful, and it's the ugliest since it bloomed! As soon as I put on my clothes, I ran to the garden to pick roses for you, because I know you like roses, especially those picked by your little daughter. But alas! What do you think is going on? So unfortunate! All the beautiful roses, which used to smell so strong and red was so lovely, have withered and withered now! They turn very yellow. Look at this. They have no fragrance! What the hell is going on? "
"Oh, my dear little girl, don't cry!" Medes said that he was embarrassed to admit that he had caused her trouble. "Sit down and eat bread and milk! Replace that golden rose (it will exist for hundreds of years) with an ordinary rose that will wither in one day, and you will find it quite easy. "
"I don't like such roses!" Mary Kim threw it away with tears and contempt. "It has no fragrance, and its hard petals sting my nose!"
The girl is sitting at the dining table now, but she is so sad about the withered rose that she didn't notice the wonderful change of her porcelain bowl. Maybe this is better, because Mary King used to like to see strange figures, strange trees and houses. These patterns were painted around the bowl, but now these decorations have disappeared in golden yellow.
At this moment, Mercedes poured a cup of coffee. Of course, no matter what metal it was when he picked up the coffee pot, it turned into gold as soon as he put it down. He thought to himself that a thrifty king like him must turn all the utensils into gold every breakfast. This is really a luxurious lifestyle, and he began to feel embarrassed about how to ensure the safety of his wealth. Cupboards and kitchens are no longer safe places to store valuables such as gold bowls and coffee.
He thought like this, holding a spoonful of coffee to his lips and sipping it, but as soon as his lips touched the coffee, it immediately turned into a golden liquid and then hardened into a piece of gold. Seeing this situation, he couldn't help being surprised!
"ah!" Mercedes exclaimed in surprise.
"What is it, Dad?" Little Mary asked, still staring at him with tears in her eyes.
"Nothing, son, nothing!" Medeci said, "Drink the milk while it is hot."
He picked up a delicious little trout on the plate and tried to touch its tail with his fingers. Horribly, it immediately changed from a delicious fried trout to a goldfish, but it was not a goldfish in a glass jar that people put in the living room as decoration. No, it is really a goldfish. It looks like a goldfish made by the tallest goldsmith in the world. The thin bones are now golden yellow, the fins and tails are thin pieces of gold, and there are fork marks on the fish. This is a goldfish made of gold, exactly like fried fish, slender and soft in appearance, and just right in temperature. As you can imagine, this is a very delicate handicraft; But King Medes would rather have an edible real trout on his plate than this exquisite and expensive imitation.
"I really don't understand," he thought, "how can I have breakfast!"
He picked up a steaming cake, and before he could open it, it immediately showed the color of yellow corn flour, although it was only a cake made of fine white flour. This made him very upset. To tell the truth, if it is really a hot tortilla, Mercedes must cherish it much more than it does now. Now its rigidity and increased weight make him feel very painful. This is gold, not pancakes. He almost picked up a boiled egg in despair, and it immediately became as big as trout and cake. It's really like the egg laid by the famous goose in the story book, so King Medes became the only goose in the story.
"Oh, what a dilemma," he thought, leaning back in his chair and looking at little Mary enviously. She ate bread and milk with relish. "Such a luxurious breakfast is in front of me, but I can't eat anything!"
He wanted to avoid the trouble he was suffering in a very quick way, so he grabbed a hot potato and stuffed it in his mouth, trying to swallow it in a hurry. But the touch of gold is too effective. He found that his mouth was full of hard metal instead of powdered potatoes, which burned his tongue. He shouted, jumped up from the table and stamped his feet in the room, in pain and fear.
"Dad, dear dad!" Little Mary, a very filial child, cried, "What's the matter? Did you burn your mouth? "
"Oh, dear boy," Mitis moaned sadly, "I don't know what will happen to your poor father!"
My dear children, have you ever heard such a pitiful thing in your life? It is no exaggeration to say that the richest breakfast is placed in front of the king, and it is precisely because of its wealth that it becomes useless. The poorest workers sat down to chew the crust and drink boiled water, which was much better than King Medes. King Medes' exquisite food is really worth the same weight of gold. So, what should we do? Mercedes was starving at breakfast. Can he feel less hungry at lunch? His appetite will become like a hungry wolf at dinner. However, dinner, no doubt, will be like now, the same undigested food in front of him! Think about it, how long can he live like this?
These thoughts tormented the wise king Medes and made him wonder whether wealth was the most desirable thing in the world. But this is just a momentary thought. Medeci is so fascinated by the glitter of gold chips that he still doesn't want to give up a golden touch for breakfast. Think about how much a meal is worth! In other words, for a few fried trout, an egg, a potato, a hot cake and a cup of coffee, you will spend tens of millions of dollars in Qian Qian (if you keep counting, you will spend millions of times more)!
"That's too expensive," thought Mercedes.
However, he was so hungry that the embarrassing situation made him moan loudly again, which made him very sad. Our lovely Mary King couldn't help it. She sat for a while, staring at her father and trying to find out what happened to him. So, under the kind and sad emotional impulse to comfort her father, she stood up from the chair, stretched out her arms and hugged his knees affectionately. He bent down to kiss her. Getting his little daughter's love is more precious than everything he gets with the touch of gold 1000 times.
"My baby, baby Kim Mary!" He cried.
But Mary King didn't answer.
Well, what did he do? What a hurtful gift the stranger gave him! As soon as Medicis' lips touched Mary King's forehead, it changed. Her sweet and rosy face, which has always been so lovely, shows flashing yellow, and yellow tears condense on her cheeks. Her beautiful brown curly hair shows the same color. Her soft and delicate body became hard and inflexible in her father's arms. Oh, what a terrible misfortune! Little Mary became the victim of his insatiable greed for wealth. She is no longer a living child, but a golden statue!
Yes, there she is, with love and sadness on her face, pity and anxiety on her face. This is the most beautiful and sad sight that the world can see. All the features and functions of Mary Kim remain unchanged, even the lovely little wine bottle remains on her golden chin. The daughter no longer exists, only this golden statue is left; The more realistic it is to see this golden statue, the more painful a father will be. Whenever Medes loves the child very much, he always likes to say that she is as heavy as gold. It's completely true now. He finally felt that his daughter's warm and gentle heart, which loves him, far exceeded all the mountains of wealth in value! However, it is too late.
It would be a tragic story if I told you how Medes twisted his hands and broke his heart after completely satisfying all his desires, and how he couldn't bear to look at Mary King but didn't see her. When his eyes were fixed on the statue, he couldn't believe that she had turned into gold. However, when I look at it again, there is a yellow tear on the yellow cheek of this precious little golden statue. It looks so compassionate and gentle, as if the expression itself is enough to soften the gold and restore the body. However, this is impossible. Therefore, Medes can only wring his hands and pray with all his heart, hoping that his dear child's face will regain a little redness, so that even if he loses all his property and becomes the poorest person in the world, he will be willing.
Just as he was sad and desperate, he suddenly saw a stranger standing by the door. Mercedes bowed his head and said nothing, because he recognized that this was the stranger who appeared in the treasure room the day before. It was this stranger who turned the stone into gold and caused the disaster. There is still a smile on the stranger's face, which seems to make the whole room glow with golden light, and make the image of little Mary and other objects that turn golden after being touched by Mitis shine.
"Well, my friend Medes," said the stranger, "what achievements did the touch of gold bring you?"
Mercedes shook his head.
"I am poor," he said.
"Very poor? Really? " The stranger cried, "How did this happen?" Didn't I faithfully fulfill my promise to you? Didn't you get the most precious thing that your heart longed for? "
"Gold is not the most precious thing," replied Mitis. "I have lost everything I really love."
"ah! Have you found anything since yesterday? " The stranger said, "well, let's think about it." Which of these two things do you think is really valuable, the touch of gold or a glass of clean cold water? "
"Oh, holy water!" Mercedes cried, "It will never moisten my thirsty throat again!" " "
"Golden touch," continued the stranger, "or a piece of dry bread?"
"A loaf of bread," replied Mitis, "is worth all the gold in the world."
"The touch of gold, or your own little golden Mary, was so warm, gentle and lovely an hour ago?" The stranger said again.
"Oh, my child, my dear child!" Poor Mercedes cried and squeezed her hand. "I don't want to exchange the little wine in her mouth for a spell that can turn the whole earth into a hard gold nugget!"
"You are smarter than before, King Medes!" The stranger looked at him seriously and said. "I see, your own heart has not completely changed from flesh and blood to gold. If your heart becomes gold, it's hopeless. But you seem to understand the most common truth: what everyone can get is more valuable than the wealth that people marvel at and compete for. Now please tell me, do you really want to get rid of this alchemy! "
"I hate!" Mercedes replied.
A fly landed on his nose. But it immediately fell to the floor, because it also turned into gold. Mercedes shuddered.
"Then, go," said the stranger, "jump into the river flowing at the end of your garden, put a bottle of water in the river, and sprinkle the water on what you want it to be back to its original substance. If you do it sincerely, you may be able to remedy the disaster caused by your greed. "
King Medes bowed deeply. When he looked up, the radiant stranger disappeared.
Of course you do. Mercedes immediately grabbed a clay pitcher (but alas! After he touched it, it was no longer pottery. He hurried to the river. He ran all the way through the bushes. Incredibly, the leaves behind him turned yellow where he walked, as if he had come here in autumn. As soon as he got to the river, he jumped headfirst, without even taking off his shoes.
"poof! Poof! Poof! " King Medes snored when his head was above the water. "well! This is really a refreshing bath. I think it must have washed away the golden touch. Now fill the pitcher! " When he sank the pitcher into the water, he was glad to see that the pitcher had changed from gold to ordinary pottery before he touched it. He also realized that he had changed. A painful, difficult and heavy burden was lifted from his chest. There is no doubt that his heart has gradually lost its temperament and turned into insensitive metal, but now it has softened and become flesh and blood. Medes saw a violet growing on the river bank and touched it with her finger. To his great joy, this delicate flower remained purple instead of withering and turning yellow. So the disaster of alchemy was indeed lifted from him.
King Medes hurried back to the palace. I think the servants didn't know what happened when they saw their king come back with a clay pot full of water so carefully. But that water can be used to get rid of all the evils caused by his stupidity. For the Medes, it is more precious than the sea of gold. As you know, the first thing he did was to sprinkle some water on the golden statue of little Mary.
As soon as the water fell on her, I saw the lovely child's cheeks rosy again! Seeing her sneeze makes her drool! She found herself soaked to the skin, and her father kept splashing water on her, which surprised her greatly. You will laugh when you see all this.
"Please don't splash water, dear dad!" She cried, "Look, you've got my beautiful coat wet. I just put it on this morning! " "
Because Mary King didn't know that she had become a golden statuette, she didn't remember anything from the moment she stretched out her arms and ran to comfort the poor king Medea.
Her father doesn't think it is necessary to tell his dear child how stupid he used to be. He is content to show how smart he is now. To this end, he led little Mary into the garden and watered all the roses with the remaining water, effectively restoring the beautiful color of about 5000 roses. However, there are two situations that often remind King Medes of the golden touch in his life. First, the sand in the river shines like gold; Secondly, little Mary has golden hair, which he had never seen before kissing her and turning her into a golden statue. This color change is really a good thing. This makes Mary King's hair brighter than when she was a child.
When King Medes became an old man, he often put King Mary's children on his knees and shook them gently. He likes telling them this wonderful story, just as I am telling you now. Then he will touch their smooth curly hair and tell them that their hair also has bright golden yellow, which is inherited from their mother.
"To tell you the truth, my little babies," King Medes said, shaking the children kneeling on the ground even harder. "From that morning on, I was very tired of seeing all other gold except this one!"