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THE ENDLESS TALE . In the Far East there was a great king who had no work to do . Every day , and all day long , he sat on soft cushions and listened to stories . And no matter what the story was about , he never grew tired of hearing it , even though it was very long . " There is only one fault that I find with your story , " he often said : " it is too short . " All the story - tellers in the world were invited to his palace ; and some of them told tales that were very long indeed . But the king was always sad when a story was ended . At last he sent word into every city and town and country place , offering a prize to any one who should tell him an endless tale . He said , — " To the man that will tell me a story which shall last forever , I will give my fairest daughter for his wife ; and I will make him my heir , and he shall be king after me . " But this was not all . He added a very hard condition . " If any man shall try to tell such a story and then fail , he shall have his head cut off . " The king's daughter was very pretty , and there were many young men in that country who were willing to do anything to win her . But none of them wanted to lose their heads , and so only a few tried for the prize . One young man invented a story that lasted three months ; but at the end of that time , he could think of nothing more . His fate was a warning to others , and it was a long time before another story - teller was so rash as to try the king's patience . But one day a stranger from the South came into the palace . " Great king , " he said , " is it true that you offer a prize to the man who can tell a story that has no end ? " " It is true , " said the king . " And shall this man have your fairest daughter for his wife , and shall he be your heir ? " " Yes , if he succeeds , " said the king . " But if he fails , he shall lose his head . " " Very well , then , " said the stranger . " I have a pleasant story about locusts which I would like to relate . " " Tell it , " said the king . " I will listen to you . " The story - teller began his tale . " Once upon a time a certain king seized upon all the corn in his country , and stored it away in a strong granary . But a swarm of locusts came over the land and saw where the grain had been put . After searching for many days they found on the east side of the granary a crevice that was just large enough for one locust to pass through at a time . So one locust went in and carried away a grain of corn ; then another locust went in and carried away a grain of corn ; then another locust went in and carried away a grain of corn . "
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