The Shoes and The Stones

Once there lived an autocratic king. One day the king went for sight seeing. On the way, one wheel of the chariot was dislodged and the king had to walk back to palace. While he was returning, a sharp stone pierced his leg and he screamed painfully. All the ministers who were accompanying the king, supported him to return to palace. On reaching the palace, the king thought of a decision in his mind.

He decided that he would remove all the stones from his kingdom and will cover all land with soft rubber. He told about his decision to the cabinet. Everybody agreed to the decision of king in fear (although deep inside in their minds, everyone was thinking that the king had gone crazy!! :-P). However, the chief minister of his cabinet (the wisest among all ministers) raised his hand. The king asked the chief minister, "What happened?" The minister replied, "I am sorry great king! But I object to your decision." The king became angry and said, "How dare you object my decision!! My decision is always final." The minister said, "Respected king! I want to provide a better idea. It might save a lot of royal treasure and effort, without impacting the effectiveness." The king thought for a moment, 'There is no harm in listening to his idea' and said, "Okay, so what is your idea?" The minister replied, "I would order the cobbler to make rubber shoes for you."

The king agreed and the cobbler made rubber shoes for the king. The king wore the shoes and his feet were completely covered. He felt quite comfortable wearing the shoes. Then he went to see various places of his kingdom on foot. He felt as if his whole kingdom was covered with soft rubber without any stones. He returned back extremely happy. He called the minister to reward him for providing the wise idea. The minister said, "I do not want any reward!! I know that we might not be able to remove every stone of evil from the world, but can wear the shoes of righteousness so that no evil can harm us. I suggested you the same."