14 King Midas and His Golden Touch

14 King Midas and His Golden Touch

迈达斯国王和他的点金术

Long

ago,

Greece

was

divided

into

many

different small

kingdoms.

One

of

these

kingdoms

was

ruled

by

a

man

named

King

Midas.

King

Midas was very rich. Many people said that he had more gold than any

other king in the world. Even though he was rich, Midas was so greedy

that he always wanted to be recher. His favorite thing was gold, and he

would do anything to get more. Truly, he wished that everything in his

kingdom could be gold, and he hated looking at any object that wasn't. He

wore yellow robes and slept in a yellow bed because they reminded him

of gold. He even useed a golden knife and fork to eat.

Midas loved gold so much that he named his only daughter Marygold.

If there was anything that King Midas loved as much as gold, it was his

young daughter. She was a beautiful little girl and she loved to play in the

castle's garden. Each morning she would pick flowers and bring them to

her father, and each morning her father would say the same thing:

beautiful

flowers,

my

daughter.

The

only

thing

that

could

make

them more beautiful is if they were gold.

One day, while out playing in the garden, Marygold found an old man

sleeping in a

bed of flowers.

She

called to

her

father,

and

he came

out

quickly to see who it was. The man was not an ordinary man; in fact, he

was not a man at all. His name was Silenus, and he was a Satyr. He was

good friends with Bacchus, the god of wine.

When

King

Midas

found

Silenus,

he

did

not

punish

him

for

destroying

his

garden.

Actually,

Midas

just

laughed

at

the

old

man

because he was drunk on too much wine. The noise awoke Silenus, and

King Midas invited him inside to have dinner and wine. Silenus stayed as

the king's guest for ten days, and the two men merrily drank wine and ate

great dinners the whole time.

After ten days, Bacchus came to find Silenus. When he arrived at the

castle, he faound Silenus and Midas walking in the garden.

there

you

are,

Silenus,

began

Bacchus,

you

been

enjoying

yourself here?

Silenus told Bacchus what a wonderful time he had been having , and

about

King

Midas'

kingness.

Bacchus

was

impressed

and

decided

to

reward Midas for his good treatment of Silenus.

good friend, Silenus, As a reward, I will give you one wish.

Midas

only

thought

about

it

for

a

second

and

said,

wish

that

everything I touch be turned into beautiful, yellow gold.

otherman has as much gold as you. Do you truly want more?

gold is the best and the most wonderful thing in the world.