"Andrew On Prostitutes" 
by Gibran Khalil Gibran 

The King

The people of the kingdom of Sadik surrounded the palace of their king shouting in
rebellion against him. And he came down the steps of the palace carrying his crown in
one hand and his sceptre in the other. The majesty of his appearance silenced the
multitude, and he stood before them and said, "My friends, who are no longer my
subjects, here I yield my crown and sceptre unto you. I would be one of you. I am only
one man, but as a man I would work together with you that our lot may be made better.
There is no need for king. Let us go therefore to the fields and the vineyards and labor
hand with hand. Only you must tell me to what field or vineyard I should go. All of you
now are king." 

And the people marveled, and stillness was upon them, for the king whom they had
deemed the source of their discontent now yielding his crown and sceptre to them and
became as one of them. 

Then each and every one of them went his way, and the king walked with one man to a
field. But the Kingdom of Sadik fared not better without a king, and the mist of
discontent was still upon the land. The people cried out in the market places saying that
they have a king to rule them. And the elders and the youths said as if with one 
voice, "We will have our king." And they sought the king and found him toiling in the
field, and they brought him to his seat, and yielded unto his crown and his sceptre. And
they said, "Now rule us, with might and with justice." 

And he said, "I will indeed rule you with might, and may the gods of the heaven and the
earth help me that I may also rule with justice." Now, there came to his presence men
and women and spoke unto him of a baron who mistreated them, and to whom they
were but serfs. And straightway the king brought the baron before him and said, "The
life of one man is as weighty in the scales of God as the life of another. And because
you know not how to weigh the lives of those who work in your fiends and your
vineyards, you are banished, and you shall leave this kingdom forever." 

The following day came another company to the king and spoke of the cruelty of a
countess beyond the hills, and how she brought them down to misery. Instantly the
countess was brought to court, and the king sentenced her also to banishment, saying,
"Those who till our fields and care for our vineyards are nobler than we who eat the
bread they prepare and drink the wine of their wine-press. And because you know not
this, you shall leave this land and be afar from this kingdom." 

Then came men and women who said that the bishop made them bring stones and hew
the stones for the cathedral, yet he gave them naught, though they knew the bishop's
coffer was full of gold and silver while they themselves were empty with hunger. 

And the king called for the bishop, and when the bishop came the king spoke and said
unto his, "That cross you wear upon your bosom should mean giving life unto life. But
you have taken life from life and you have given none. Therefore you shall leave this
kingdom never to return." 

Thus each day for a full moon men and women came to the king to tell him of the
burdens laid upon them. And each and every day a full moon some oppressor was
exiled from the land. And the people of Sadik were amazed, and there was cheer in
their heart. 

And upon a day the elders and the youths came and surrounded the tower of the king
and called for him. And he came down holding his crown with one hand and his sceptre
with the other. And he spoke unto and said, "Now, what would you do of me? Behold, I
yield back to you that which you desired me to hold." 

But they cried. "Nay, nay, you are our rightful king. You have made clean the land of
vipers, and you have brought the wolves to naught, and we welcome to sing our
thanksgiving unto you. The crown is yours in majesty and the sceptre is yours in glory." 

Then the king said, "Not I, not I. You yourselves are king. When you deemed me weak
and a misruler, you yourselves were weak and misruling. And now the land fares well
because it is in your will. I am but a thought in the mind of you all, and I exist not save
in your actions. There is no such person as governor. Only the governed exist to govern
themselves." 

And the king re-entered his tower with his crown and his sceptre. And the elders and the
youths went their various ways and they were content. And each and every one thought
of himself as king with a crown in one hand and a sceptre in the other