“Alas, me!” said the Duke, “I have lost my jester!”
“No, you have not!” cried the jester. “You have lost your thousand ducats. I am not dead; and you are this April’s Fool!”
The jester leaped up from the floor as good as ever. He had turned the joke on the Duke, and called for his thousand ducats. From this time on people began to play jokes on each other the first day of April in each year.
THE GOLDEN TOUCH
In which a foolish king became miserable from too great desire for wealth.
King Midas was a very foolish king who wanted more money than anybody else in the world had. One day after he had done a kindness to the god Dionysius, the god said to him:
“Choose what you would like best. I will grant it to you.”
Midas at once said: “Grant that everything I touch may turn to gold.”
Dionysius said: “It shall be as you desire, but I tell you that you have made a very foolish request.”