This is an old story from Greece. Greece is a country in Europe. There was a king called Dionysius. His father's name was Silenus. Silenus was a old man. One day the Dad went for a long walk in the countryside. He went so so so far, that he went outside his own country and reached Phyrgia. After a while, he got really tired. But he so far away from home so he tried hard and kept on walking. Finally he got so tired that he fell on the ground and he could not get up. There were some farmers who were working nearby. They saw this old man on the ground. What would you do if you saw somebody fallen on the ground. .....(Respond to answers for 1 minute).
In those days they did not have 911. So they thought, "Poor man, how can we help him". They did not know the man's family, they did not know which village he came from. Where should they take him to make him feel better?
Then they remembered their King. Their King's name was Midas and he was very good to all the people. The farmers thought, "We dont know this man. But maybe the King can take care of him and take him to his family". So the farmers picked him up and carried him to King Midas.
As soon as Midas saw the old man, he was surprised. This was Dionysius’s father lying in front of him. Midas was so happy that the farmers had rescued Silenus. He said "Thank you so much for being good people and taking care of strangers". Then he called the doctors and the doctors took good care of the old man. Then Midas called his cooks from the kitchen and made them cook a lot of good food. Everybody took good care of Silenus and he became much better in ten days. Silenus was very happy with Midas.
On the eleventh day, Midas took Silenus back to Dionysus. Dionysus was happy to see his Father "Dad, where did you do. We were searching all over the place for you". Silenus said "I fell sick. Midas took such good care of me and I am better now. You should thank Midas for keeping me safe".
Dionysius said to Midas. ‘Thank you so much for talking care of my old father’. ‘I will give you anything you want. Just ask me’.
Midas was a good King, but he had one problem. He was very fond of money.
What can you use money for? Money is good sometimes. You can get food for you family! What else? (Spend 1 minute to respond. Respond positively to good uses and dont respond to bad uses)
It is good to want money which you can use for taking care of your family or other people. But Midas loved money just for the sake of money. He just wanted to keep money with him. He was very happy that Dionysius had offered him a wish. So he said, “Make it so that everything I touch becomes gold”. Dionysius said “So be it. Everything you touch will become gold”. Midas was sooo happy! He went and touched a cup that was on his table. It turned into a shiny gold cup! He touched a chair. It became a golden chair. Then he touched the walls of his palace. And the whole palace became a shiny yellow gold! He was so happy, he ran out into the garden. The sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing and his palace was a bright beautiful shiny gold. Everything looked so beautiful.
There were a lot pretty flowers in the garden and they were smelling so nice, so he went closer to smell them. But as soon as he touched them… they turned to gold. Gold flowers are not real just like plastic flowers. Have you ever smelt plastic flowers? They don’t smell like real flowers. So Midas thought, “Hmmnn this gift that I was given is not that nice after all”.
He had a little daughter who was playing in the garden. She came running to him, “Dad, isn’t that nice – the palace looks so beautiful and shiny. She ran and hugged him. Midas was so happy to see her so he picked her up. The moment he touched her she turned into gold. Just a golden doll. She could not hug him or talk to him and hear him anymore. Poor Midas, his lovely daughter got turned into a golden doll!
Midas was so sad. He went back to Dionysius and prayed hard. “Please make my gift go away” “ I don’t want any gold anymore. I will give everything I have if I can get my dear daughter back’. Dionysus heard his prayer, and said “I hope you have learnt a lesson. Go to the river called Pactolus and bathe in it. The water will wash off your gift and you will become the old Midas once again. So that is what he did. He went and had a bath in the Pactolus River and he was cured. Everything turned back to normal again, the cup became glass again, the flowers became real. His daughter came back to life too, she came running to him and gave him a big hug. Midas felt much better. From that day onward, he was not greedy anymore. He and his daughter lived happily ever after.
But you know something, to this day, the Pactolus River still has gold in it and people find bits of gold there.
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This story gives an opportunity for the kids to act. Ask for volunteers to act the part of Dionysius, Silenus, several farmers, Midas, the doctor, the cook and Midas's daughter. Ask them to act out the story, silently, no words, while you are telling the story. Involve the other kids by asking the questions listed in the text.
