A long, long time ago, my dear friends, so long ago that all that is left is dust, there was a King who reigned, as most Kings do, surrounded by many counselors. He had a very wise man for Prime Minister, who was always saying, "Everything happens for the best." This remark annoyed his peers, who didn't always understand what he meant.

One day, while he was out hunting, the King accidentally cut off his little finger. Half mad with pain, he returned to the palace, holding his wounded hand. When it had been cleaned and bandaged, the Prime Minister, who had come to see him, said,"Sire, don't grieve for the loss of your little finger, because everything happens for the best."

As you can easily imagine, my friends, the King was already not in a very good mood and he became furious on hearing this remark and he ordered his guards to throw the Prime Minister into prison immediately.

Several days later, The King went off alone to hunt in the forest. His urged his horse into a gallop to chase after a big stag and, in the excitement of the hunt, ended up in enemy territory. A heavy silence prevailed in the depths of the forest and from time to time the sinister cry of a raven cut through the air like a knife. As the King prepared to turn around and return to his castle, he was captured by ferocious warriors. They decided to offer their captive to their bloodthirsty goddess of war as a sacrifice. However, just as they were about to cut off the king's head, they noticed that one of his little fingers was missing and, as only men with perfect bodies were judged worthy of being sacrificed, they allowed the King his to go free.

It was on his way back to his castle, dear friends, that the King remembered what his Prime Minister has said: "Everything happens for the best" and realised that, had he not accidentally cut off his little finger, the warriors would surely have cut off his head. He gave the order that the Prime Minister be released from prison and brought before him and then asked: "If everything happens for the best, then what benefit did you get from your week in prison?" "Sire," answered the Prime Minister, "I always go everywhere with your Majesty. If you hadn't thrown me in prison, I would have gone hunting with you and thus I would have been captured with you! Your Majesty was spared thanks to your wound, but they would certainly have cut off my head in your place. That is why, Sire, that one should try to see beyond life's misadventures and not loose confidence, even if they cause us pain at the time, because everything happens for the best.

Hello, everyone. . . back from summer holidays and, as the association I belong to is are now in the midst of its storyteller festival, I would like to offer you a translation of a story I heard just last night and just to make sure that the entire story makes it onto this post, here's the ususal nonsense. . . blah, blah, blah, patati and patata and son