Once upon a time, in a kingdom by the sea, there lived a foolish King. It seemed that no matter how much gold the people gave him, it was soon all gone. So, he surrounded himself with wise men to help him think, but that only made things worse.
"Too many Grand Balls" said one, "Too many Grand Ballrooms" said another. "Too many This" and "Too many That" said the rest. What was the point of being King, if you couldn't have Grand Balls, and Grand Ballrooms, and This and That? It was really very discouraging.
One day, quite on his own, as he was riding across a bridge in his carriage, the King noticed something. Because the kingdom was by the sea, it had bays and islands, and there were many bridges so that people could go from place to place. And because the bridges were so near the sea, and were often covered by salty spray, they soon became rusty.
Even as the King watched, workers were scraping off the old and rusty paint, and putting on new paint. So this was where all the gold was going! The King called for his wise men. "If only this paint would last forever!" said the King. But the wise men all agreed, that no paint would last forever.
Some painters who were traveling through the kingdom heard the King, and sought an audience with him. "Our paint will last forever!" They explained that this special Everlasting Paint was quite expensive, and needed special brushes, which they just happened to have, and could only be applied by specially trained painters, which they just happened to be! They also explained, but very quietly so the King and the wise men hardly noticed, that the paint would not work on just any ordinary bridge, but only on one worthy of such treatment.
Thinking of how much gold would be saved, the King told the painters to start work at once, which they did. They chose the longest bridge in the kingdom, and mixed up an enormous amount of their special Everlasting Paint. Then, using their special brushes, and special training, they began to paint. The job took them a year.
When they were done, the bridge gleamed in the sunlight. Rain and fog and salty spray bounced right off. The King was delighted, and even his wise men were impressed. The painters were paid, and went on their way.
But soon, the Everlasting Paint began to fall off! The painters were summoned back to the palace to explain. Which they did. "The bridge must not have been worthy!" The King and his wise men said they had never heard of such a thing, but the painters reminded them that they had been told, and it was true. And so, every year just as before, workers may be seen scraping off the old and rusty paint, and putting on new paint. The new King has gotten used to it.
The moral of the story? If something is too good to be true, it probably isn't.
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