Once upon a time there was a very greedy king who had lots and lots of gold. But he wanted even more gold, so he decided he would order his army to attack the neighboring kingdom and steal all their gold.
The king called all his soldiers into his courtyard and told them his plan. The soldiers agreed to obey his orders. They drew their swords and lifted their shields and marched off to battle. But the soldiers were not gone from the castle long before they began returning to the courtyard. Not one of the soldiers was carrying a sword or a shield.
“What happened!” screamed the king. “I told you to go fight a battle!”
“We were on our way, Sire,” said one of the men, “when we came across a single flower in a field who spoke to us. It said: ‘All the people of the earth are one family. Be wise and lay down your swords and shields and study war no more.’ It seemed to us that the flower made sense so that is what we did.”
The king was hopping mad! He vowed to get rid of the flower that had ruined his plans. He waited until midnight and then he crept out of the castle, walking across the field until he came to the flower and he stomped that flower into the ground. Then the king walked back to his castle with a smile on his face.
The next day the king called his soldiers to the courtyard. He gave them new swords and new shields and told them to obey his orders and go attack the neighboring kingdom. The soldiers were afraid of the king so they did as they were told.
But the soldiers were not gone long before they started returning without their swords and shields. This made the king furious.
“I told you to go fight a battle!” screamed the king.
“We were on our way,” said one of the soldiers, “but we came to the spot where we saw one flower yesterday. You wouldn’t believe it but there are twenty flowers there today. And they were all saying the same thing: ‘All the people of the earth are one family. Be wise and lay down your swords and shields and study war no more.’ And the flowers made sense to us so that is what we did.”
This made the king hopping mad. “Those blasted flowers!” he thought. “Tonight I will sneak out and stomp every one of them into the ground.” And that is what he did. He stomped, stomped, stomped them all into the ground.
The next day the king called all the soldiers to the courtyard and gave them new swords and new shields and ordered them once again to attack the neighboring kingdom. The soldiers were afraid of the king so they obeyed him. But the soldiers had not been gone long when they began returning without their swords and shields.
“I told you to go to battle!” screamed the king. “Why did you disobey me!”
“Well,” said one of the soldiers, “you wouldn’t believe it but in the same place where there were twenty flowers there is now a whole field of flowers and they are all saying—”
The king didn’t wait to hear the rest. He knew what those trees were saying. He ran out of the castle and there he saw a field full of flowers as far as the eye could see. The king began to cry and scream because he knew there was no way he could stomp on all those flowers.
“Can it be!” he screamed, “that a powerful king like myself can be stopped by flowers!”
“Are you asking me?” came a voice from behind him.
Turning around the king saw an old man leaning against the castle walls. His hair and beard were long and grey and his clothes were well worn.
“Well,” said the king after a moment, “Do you have an answer? If so, please tell me.”
“Well,” said the old man and then he paused for a moment. “It seems to me that you are a very powerful king.”
“Yes, indeed I am!” agreed the king.
“And, since you are so powerful, you can take any flower that offends you and stomp it into the ground.”
“You are quite right there,” replied the king.
“But,” said the beggar, “the flower spoke the truth. All the people of the earth are one family. We would be wise to lay down our swords and shields and study war no more. You may be a powerful king, but there is no king on earth more powerful than the truth, for truth crushed to the earth will rise again.”
Storytelling Tip: This story ends with a quote by the Unitarian journalist William Cullen Bryant, “Truth crushed to earth will rise again.” This is a good story to have children act out as you tell it because there are lots of parts.