The Uncrowned King

by Harold Bell Wright

It was gray dawn when the Pilgrim turned once more to his couch in The Quiet Room.

Without the Temple, tree and bush and plant and grass were beginning to stir with fresh and joyous strength, while the clean air was rich with the smell of the earth life and filled with murmuring, twittering, whispering, morning calls. Through the open window, into The Quiet Room where the Pilgrim lay, the Bright Morning entered, and out of the Morning came the glad, glad Voice of the New Day.

Said this Voice to the Pilgrim: "To thee, O Hadji, I come from the Infinite Future. The interminable, eternal times that are to come, that begin but never end. I cry from the Deeps Within. I call from the Great That Will Be. I, too, am a Voice of Life, and mine it is to complete for you The Tale of The Uncrowned King."

And this is the part of the Tale that the Voice of the New Day completed.

Really-Is, the true King of Allthetime, after leaving Wisdom in his little house beside the road, journeyed slowly and thoughtfully toward the Royal City Daybyday, along the way that leads to the Golden Gate Opportunity. And while the pretender, Seemsto-Be, was delighting the people with great feasts, and amusing them with all manner of festivals, parades and games, Really-Is, very quietly--so quietly that his brother did not know--entered the city and took up his abode in a tiny house under the walls of a deserted temple once sacred to the god Things-That-Ought-To-Be.

And so it was that when Seemsto-Be went forth from the royal palace to ride in grand procession, clothed in regal splendors, with the Crown upon his head, and surrounded by gorgeous soldiers of rank and pompous officials of state, with the royal trumpeters proclaiming his greatness and power and the multitude shouting loud expressions of their loyalty, Really-Is, the King, stood still beside the way, smiling, smiling sadly at the pretty show.

And never did Really-Is neglect to make his offering every morning in the temple sacred to the god Things-That-Ought-To-Be; though in secret he worshiped there because of the decree of Seemsto-Be. And no one told the false ruler that his commandment was broken, nor spoke to him the name of his brother Really-Is.

But after a while, as time passed by, things went not so gaily with the impostor on the throne of Allthetime. And it was the Crown that did it--that wonderful Magic Crown.

The Court Fool noticed it first and made a jest about it, and Seemsto-Be laughed royally long and loud, and all the Court laughed with him, for the fool, Thinks-He-Is, is a most famous fool, the greatest that has ever been since the Father of Fools was born.