Many times his governors and lords would start a fire on a cold and damp night to beckon the Kings pawns tp come close so as to warm themselves. When they had a few dozen or so of them around the fire they would begin to tell fables and stories about how the King was doing and how much he loved them all. The lords were all from the areas they now governed, although the governors came from far away places to over see the Kings property and much wealth, and share in it too.

Many tales and stories were told over the years to every ear that would listen. Tales of heroic battles and campaigns to bring many riches and comforts to the Kings subjects kept their attention on many cold nights. In the limited minds of the Kings poor little subjects their King was indeed a holy man, a righteous man, and so loving a King as they were told they indeed should be very very thankful that he even chose them to rule much less compensate.

So enthusiastic were the Kings subjects they endured many hardships and discomforts simply to please him. Each and every day many of his subjects would enter through the castles iron gates. They would wait outside until the appointed hour, milling about almost aimlessly as if trying to build up enough strength to face another day. Then at the appointed minute the draw bridge was lowered, the iron bar gate was lifted and they would stream into the castle as if strung together like a fine pearl necklace. One after the other, except for a few scattered groups of two or three, almost all of them single file, the proverbial automatons of their King would enter the castle for their days labor, and hopefully no rath from the lords.

Even on very warm days the laborers would be there, toiling as if there were no sun in the sky. Toiling, as if their bodies didn't mind the constant torment of the oven that the castle had become. Many of them as the sun reached it's zenith would pray that the lords wouldn't force them to stay past the appointed hour to leave. They were then told that the great and benevolent King decreed that on these terribly hot days, they were to be given a bucket of water. So each field on these days had a large bucket of water delivered to them, but alas only when the day was so hot and heavy that at least one of them had collapsed. Many were forced to do all the very heavy and dirty work, these were the lords called men. The women on the other hand were given all the tedious menial tasks to do. The very lucky ones were the ones the lords picked to stand under the tree fanning them. They at least got out of the sun that day. Many of the male lords picked their favorite female subjects to fan them, which led to many rumors and whisperings.

The lords were guardedly indifferent to the personal needs of the Kings subjects. Lords took occasion to speak harshly to their charges not in private but in front of their friends. Governors many times spoke very badly to large groups as if they were no more than insignificant beasts of burden. In fact one governor in particular seemed to take special pleasure in doing this, using very loud and foul language to the Kings subjects. If an outside observer were to peak into one of these numerous gatherings I wonder just how this practice would be taken.

Lords were of course special, in the eyes of the governors and the King, and therefore almost infallible. Where they happened to over step the Kings very liberal rules of conduct the loser in the discrepancy always will be the Kings subjects. Special privileges conveyed upon the lords were not commonly known among the poor laborers, but non-the-less were heaped upon them in order to sustain the level of productivity and therefore profits that flowed into the Kings treasury with more force than the river Gonar.

Many of the lords had opulent dwellings on large estates, with plenty of children to help with their estates. The lords also always had plenty to eat but rarely, except on Christmas, did any of the Kings subjects enjoy any of their tasty dishes. The lords arrived at the castle in very ornate chariots drawn by many fine and handsome horses, bridled with gold and silver trimmings. The Kings subjects watched them all arrive and marveled at the splendor of all those fine things graced upon the lords of their King.

The lords also enjoyed such benefits as a guaranteed income after they got too old for the Kings service. They received each year a handsome chest of gold as an incentive to keep the poor working. Oh the workers were given a small pittance each year too just to make it seem as if they were all laboring as one big family. After quite a few years of getting almost the same yearly 3 jeckles in gifts from the King some questioned just how equal things really were. After all the King kept spending money on campaigns and conquests as if he didn't care about the backs being broken toiling to please him. These complaining individuals, which carried a label among the lords and governors, were chastised and given some of the worst jobs in the whole kingdom just for being a dreaded individual.

Those who suffered this practice, which usually lasted indefinitely, were taunted and mocked by subjects and lords. You see the lords and governors kept flaunting their increase in wealth as if the Kings subjects were ignorant idiots, which the lords and governors actually thought of them. Each year the lords and governors acquired newer and bigger possessions. Little did the lords and governors know though that when they die their labors would be rendered futile. They would lie in the good earth like everyone else, companion to the worm. When there all those insensitivities to others would be abundantly rewarded, me thinks, but not in a comfortable way.

A vision came to the King one night in a dream, a vision of an uprising, a vision of much turmoil within one of his many castles walls. Much thought was given to the weighty matter, because the King held these visions with much regard. All his thought was centered on the monetary consequences of such a turn of events seen in the vision. You see the Kings primary focus was to avoid at all costs any diminishing of his profits in any way shape or form. So strong were his words on this that the lords and governors kept alive stories about the King moving many other castles at a monents notice whenever other subjects questioned anything he did or whatever he chose to give them.

So what was the King to do? If he gave an inch surely these simple beggars would eventually ruin his kingdom by nibbling away at every single penny of "his" monies. The King thought much about this problem and consulted many witches and soothsayers but with no clear solution to this problem. If only the King knew what to do, perhaps he could avoid these simpletons from uniting to overthrow him or diminish his authority.

Once again one night a vision came to him, a great vision that kept him in a deep sleep well into the daylight hours. The visions that flowed through his mind were bright and crisp visions of a beautiful ski resort village on a fresh spring day . The ski resort was nestled between a group of beautiful mountains bathed in the softest, warmest sunshine he had ever seen. In the valley where the resort lay he could see small plots of brown ground turned and prepared for planting. Small dirt paths crisscrossed the valley from home to home, indicating the friendliness of the inhabitants. There were many ski paths too, these were all being tended and groomed by the towns people for the next winters sport. He thought to himself how pleasant to see this team effort, but on such a frivlous sport.

He then found himself floating down from his perch high above the valley, gently gliding into the small, warm, gentle surroundings. His feet didn't seem to touch the ground though and at first he thought he was indeed skiing. As he made his way into each home and as often happened he would sit and sip a cup of tea or eat a small cake with the owner of the home he wondered how this would fix the problem castel's turmoil. The King decided to simply enjoy this dream because he had never experienced such warmth and welcomeness in his life. With all his gold and even more important his unlimited power over all that he meet he observed that these people didn't care about any of that.

Looking around himself his thoughts seemed to be wandering through a mental maze. Thoughts going here and then there, then backward and forward, meeting dead ends a jumble of vision, thought, and emotion but alas no solutions. A particular thought came to him that the tree wasn't dead, no it was more of a feeling from inside him. He looked intently at the tree. Uprooted yes with the earth around the roots dry and crumbling,a sign of being like this a long time. Still alive though, the leaves supple and a beautiful green. How in the world could this be. His entire focus trained on the tree and it's magical existence.

While in this partial trance observing the tree he heard something say "Build them a village like this." The King stayed in his trance but heard himself say "What". Then the voice said again "Build them a village like this." The King reluctantly said he would like to, that most of his other kingdoms were beautiful places like this and that to be totally honest his love of money was the only reason he couldn't. The tree asked why do you do these things for others? The King said that when his army defeated those other kingdoms those subjects were already used to these things.

He told the tree that the kingdom that was now rebelling wasn't a conquest it wasn't taken over, it was built entirely from scratch. These subjects didn't know any better and if he gave in to them now there would be no end to the leaches whining for more. Then the tree told him another way. The King must make them think they had this village and it's warmth. Make them think they are so well off they won't ever question your generosity ever again. The King looked and thought intently, but he couldn't figure out how to do that.

The tree told him that when all else fails dazzle them with shiny pretty things. Make things appear new, bright, and dazzeling. Always be doing something even if it doesn't directly affect the ingratful masses. This has a two fold benefit the tree told him. You are spending money, so you can say costs are going up and you can't afford any more compensations, and you have a constant supply of things to dazzle them with. Then the tree said one thing you must never do is to remove all of their problems, for you see even a dog has to have a few fleas just to remind it that it's a dog.

Suddenly the King woke up and almost thought he would find that tree in his chamber. Immediately the King summoned his governors and set about to do major undertakings at the castle where the grumbling was coming from. First he decided to install a foot washing pool where his subjects could refresh themselves before going home. Second he would supply a fire for the subjects to warm themselves before and after the days work. Third he would have his lords inquire from each laborer what they thought was really needed. Then the lords would tally the results and he would consider what the most popular choice was. This surely would keep them busy for a long time figuring out what they MOST wanted.

The Kings plan worked better than the imported Swiss clock that kept his entire kingdom in order. The laborers were engrossed for weeks and months discussing what need should be met first. The governors had lots and lots of meetings to go to keeping the process of information gathering going. The lords too were occupied with, much extra work, they said. The lords talked to the Kings subjects that they liked, to get only their input on the matter. Then they made many trips to the central kingdom to report those findings that they, the lords liked, and push for those to be implemented.