Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away there ruled a King named Midas. He was very rich. It was said
that he was the richest King in the world! He loved gold. He had a little daughter who was very dear to him. He called her Marigold.
There were rooms in his palace where chests and bags were filled with gold coins and jewels were
kept. He enjoyed spending hours in those rooms. As the years passed, he began to love
gold more than anything else in the world.
soon King Midas began to love his gold even more than his pretty little daughter, Marigold.
One day, he sat in one of the rooms, counting the gold. He wished he had more.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a beautiful fairy stood before him.
She was carrying a golden wand which had little wings on it. “I have come to grant you one wish,
King Midas,” said the fairy, “What would you ask for if you have only this one wish?” “I would want everything I touch to turn into beautiful yellow gold!” said the King. “Your wish is granted, King!” said the fairy
King Midas was delighted. That night, he dreamt of the fabulous gift the fairy had given him! In the morning, he woke up and wanted to see if it had all been true, and not just a dream.
He got up and touched his bed. It turned into gold! He touched everything in his room: the lamps and the flower vases, the curtains and the chairs. Everything turned golden!
‘I must see if this works in the other parts of my palace,’ thought the King. He ran out into the garden. He was thrilled when he found that the flowers and the leaves, the trees and the seats and the statues, all turned into gold at his touch!
The King spent a happy morning. But soon, he felt hungry. He went in to eat something. But strange things began to happen. The goblet of wine turned golden, so did the wine! The plates he touched turned into gold!
The bread and meat, the fruits and the cream, everything began to turn into gold as soon as he touched it. He was very unhappy because he couldn’t eat or drink anything!
The hungry and thirsty King wished to see Marigold. Marigold had been playing in the garden and came
running to her father. She ran to hold his hand and in a moment she too was turned into a little golden statue!
The King cried out in horror and sorrow! His beloved Marigold had turned into a golden statue!
King Midas called out in great misery to the fairy who had granted him that wish.
The fairy appeared and the King fell on his knees before her. “Take away this terrible gift, please!” he begged the fairy. “You must be very sure, King,” said the fairy. “I don’t want the gold. I don’t even want my kingdom! Just give me back my little daughter, my Marigold!” he pleaded.
The fairy gave a mud pitcher to King Midas. “Take this and fill it with water from the spring in your garden,” she said, “Sprinkle the water on your daughter and whatever you have turned into gold.” King Midas thanked her and ran to the spring with the pitcher to fill it.
He ran back to where Marigold stood like a statue and sprinkled the water over her. She turned back
into his precious daughter. King Midas hugged her with tears in his eyes! He was so happy to have her
back. She was his real wealth!
Then he went around touching everything that he had turned to gold earlier. Soon the garden was
fragrant with flowers and trees. And the chairs, beds and the curtains became soft and beautiful.
He took Marigold to the table and sprinkled water on the golden dishes. The food turned once more
into delicious things they could eat!
King Midas had learnt his lesson. He thanked the fairy for making him realize what was really valuable.
He didn’t want to store all this gold any more. He became kind and generous to other people in his kingdom.
