A wise and just king ruled over Rajyanagar. His kingdom was rich and prosperous. This was because he had a council of learned minister who gave him good on how to govern his kingdom.
There was one minister, however, who had a strange habit. Whenever anyone said anything to him or narrated some incident, whether happy or sad, he had a ready reply. `Everything happens for our own good,’ even if something really sad happened, his sentence was the same. This habit irritated the king greatly. He wanted to prove him wrong.
One day king tripped on a big stone in his palace garden and fell down. His little finger got cut. The minister, who was the king at that time, said, `Your majesty. I am sorry your finger has got cut, but I am sure it is for your own good.’
The king flew into a rage. `How can this be for my good? My finger is bleeding. I am in pain. Yet you say that it’s for my own good. What a silly thing to say! You do not deserve to be a minister in my court.’ He was so angry that he ordered his bodyguards to pot the minister in prison.
The minister was not worried at all. Even as he was being led into the prison, he told the king, `Your Majesty, you are doing this for my own good.’ This angered the king even more. He decided not release the prisoner for a long, long time.
Two days later, the king decided to go hunting in the woods. Enjoying the ride on his horse, he sped into jungle, leaving his guards far behind. It was a hot day. After a while, he decided to take some rest under a huge shady tree. The breeze was so soothing that he soon fell asleep. He suddenly woke up with a start. A big lion was charging towards him. He did not know what to do. In his panic, he forgot that he was carrying weapons with him. He just closed him eyes and pretended to sleep. The loin sniffed him from head to toe and then walked away.
One wise man answered, `your majesty, did you have an injury on your body? It is a known fact that lion will not touch anyone who is hurt or bleeding.’
`An injury, Yes, my little finger got hurt…’ before the king could complete his sentence, he remembered the minister’s words. `Everything happens for your own good.’ The king could not believe it! His injured finger had actually saved his life!
He immediately went to the prison and himself released the minister. He brought him back to the court and in front of all his ministers asked for forgiveness.
`Honored sir, your statement has been proved beyond all about. My finger got hurt and saved my life. But tell me how your being imprisoned was a good for you?’
The wise minister smiled. `your majesty, had you not thrown me in prison, I would have been with you when the lion came. And since I am not suffering from any injury, the lion, the lion would have surely killed me’.
`You are a wise person. You deserve to be my prime minister. And.’ the king paused. Winking at his newly appointed prime minister, he continued,’ and from today even I have begun to believe that everything happens for our own good!’