* * * * * * *
When King Arthur was a young man, he was ambushed
and brought to the Old MONARCH of a neighboring kingdom.
The Old King could have claimed Arthur's kingdom instantly
but Arthur's youthful ideals
allowed the wise Old Man to see an even better opportunity,
that would also allow Arthur a way
to redeem his reputation and his authority:
So the Monarch offered young Arthur his freedom,
IF
he could answer a very difficult question...
This question perplexes even the wisest people at times
and for a young man like Arthur,
it seemed like an impossible challenge.
"What do ALL women really want?"
With great understanding, compassion and mercy,
the Old Man decided to give Arthur one year
to figure out the answer; but at the end of the year,
the young man's kingdom would be overturned,
unless he gave a satisfactory answer.
When Arthur returned to his kingdom,
he began working on this question immediately.
First he spoke with his mother and
then he called all his trusted advisors together.
But no one knew the answer:
not the priests,
not the magicians,
even the court jester was seriously left lacking.
So Arthur offered a great treasure to anyone in his kingdom,
with a satisfactory answer.
But no one knew the answer:
not the merchants,
not the craftsmen,
even the wisest women of the village
lacked a serious reply that worked for ALL women...
So Arthur sent messengers to every known kingdom in the world
offering a great reward to anyone with a satisfactory answer.
Every free minute he had, Arthur thought about this question.
But he was also obsessed with a growing fear
that he could lose his authority to be the king.
For 9 months he waited, searched and questioned,
but no satisfactory answers
were heard to the now famous riddle.
Many people advised the young king to consult
the oldest, wisest and also the meanest Woman alive...
But she lived in the middle of no-man's land,
high up on the ice mountains
on the edge of the world...
It was a treacherous journey
that would require at least two and a half months;
but it appeared that this was Arthur's only hope...
for the Woman was famous for her skills,
her great insight, intuition, mysterious ways
and also for the EXORBITANT prices she charged.
With all his other hopes lost, Arthur began the pilgrimage
facing many puzzling, difficult and frightening challenges
along the way.
Finally Arthur arrived, battered and torn,
on the last day of the year.
When he saw the old Woman, the young man was horrified:
She was hunchbacked and hideously ugly.
She was half bald,
had only one tooth,
smelled like rotten eggs,
and made obscene noises (from above and below).
Physically speaking, she was the most disgusting person
he had ever seen in his life!
After hearing the Woman scream and curse at him for an hour,
a Loooooooooooonnnnnnnnnng argument began between them.
Finally, after thoroughly testing Arthur's integrity and patience,
the Woman agreed to tell him
the highly desired answer he was looking for,
but ONLY if
he would agree to marry her
AND
spend 24 hours a day with her for the rest of his life.
* * * * * * *
If the choice was yours,
what do you think/feel you would do?
* * * * * * *
If you are interested to hear Arthur's reasoning
you are welcome to
read part two