Once upon a time, in a small village of Swarthmore, there was a knight. In all the village he was the most conceited, overconfident and arrogant. He was small yet muscular and owned many ill fitting armour. He never took off that armor as it was what made is skin so ivory, and his hair so blonde. Although cocky he was not brave but if you asked him he would surely say, “I can do anything, for I am the greatest knight there ever was.” This mindset made the knight believe that he should be the King of Swarthmore.
The entire village knew that the knight would soon challenge the King for his thrown. The villagers had witnessed the knight research and study the Order of Succession for many years. The Order of Successions states: You may disrupt the order of the Monarchy only if you can prove your intelligence, strength, and compassion. In the last years of the knight’s research he found that if he can complete three tasks showing these characteristics and provide proof to the court of Swarthmore then he can take over as king. After finding this out the knight set out to do just that.
The knight went around the village waiting for the opportunity to present it self. As he was walking through the trail full of rocks and dirt, he saw a man. That man was hunched over a stack of papers the size of a great dane.
The man cried and cried until the knight stopped him and asked, “Are you okay?” The man replied, “No, I have to complete this math problem as I am trying to create a type of math.”
The Knight said in a cocky tone, “Don’t worry sir I am as intelligent as a dictionary.”
The knight then took the stack of papers from the man, read them, and they deliberated. The knight was able to use the math skills that he had learned in the knight academy to understand the man’s problem. The man then thanked him repeatedly and asked the knight what he could ever do to repay him. The knight then chanted,
“Come with me, come with me
I am trying to become the king.
I need you so I can state my plea,
I only must prove three things.
And you are number one.”
The man claimed, “Of course I’ll join you after all that you have done for me.” The knight and the man then went off on the rocky trails when they stumbled into a dog owner. Her dog was stuck underneath a wagon. She said that her wagon ripped loose from her hands and rolled downhill and crashed underneath a willow tree. She cried out to the man and knight to help her dog. The knight agreed without hesitation, he knew that it would complete his final task.
The knight exclaimed, “No need to fear poor dog, your knight is here. I will use my mighty strength to lift this oh so heavy wagon, to free you once and for all.”
The man insisted on helping the knight, but the knight told him to back away. He believed he needed to do this on his own to rightfully complete his task of strength. The knight then slowly but surely lifted the wagon, freeing the dog. The dog ran free and its owner thanked the knight continuously. The dog owner asked what she could ever do to repay him. The knight then chanted,
“Come with me, come with me
I am trying to become the king.
I need you so I can state my plea,
I only must prove three things.
And you are number two”
The dog owner happily agreed. The knight, the man, and the dog owner started to walk off into the village once again. After about a half an hour they ran into a torn up house. The house was in pieces and beside it was a family of 3. They all looked tired, tearful, and hungry.
The family yelled out from beside their house, “Someone please help, we are in need of a place to stay. Our home was wrecked by a fire.”
The knight replied, “I’ll help you! I have a place all 3 of you can stay until you are back on your feet”
Reluctant to accept the invitation of a stranger, they had nowhere else to go so they accepted the knight's offer. The family was forever grateful for what the knight did for them and asked what they could ever do to repay him. The knight then chanted,
“Come with me, come with me
I am trying to become the king.
I need you so I can state my plea,
I only must prove three things.
And you are number three.”
Without hesitation the family agreed . After having finished all three tasks the knight took the man, the dog owner, and the family to the kingdom to claim his throne.
They all arrive at the kingdom and ask the guards to see the king. The guards then bring them into the king's chamber.
The king looks at the measly knight and asks, “What are you here for son?”
The knight replied, “With all do respect sir, your thrown. According to the Order of Succession, I had to prove my intelligence, strength, and compassion. In which I have brought these people here to prove to you that I have done just that.”
The man stated, “Yes King, it is true the knight proved his intelligence by solving my math problem.”
The dog owner declared, “King, the knight saved my poor dog. Who knows what would have happened to him without the knight's help?”
The family pronounced, “Sir, the knight gave us a place to live after our house burned down.”
“All right, all right I’ve heard enough but this still does not qualify you to be king.”, he demanded.
“But sir I did everything the Order of Succession said!”, argued the knight.
“Yes but you were missing the heart behind each task”, said the King.
What the King meant was that the Order of Succession had an untold rule. Each task to prove your intelligence, strength, and compassion must have a reason. You must do the task because you care about it. The knight did every task out of his own selfish reasoning, and is therefore not fit to be King. With this message, the knight returned to his normal duties and the King kept his throne. The man, the dog owner, and the family had all their problems solved and lived happily ever after.