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No King As God
The Great King
There once lived a great and powerful king in an African village. Everybody feared him and came to pay obeisance to him. When an ordinary man came before the African king, he would shout in greeting: "May the king live forever!"
No King Like God!
There was one man in the village who refused to greet the king in that manner.
Instead, he would say: "There is no king like God." After many visits to the king, and many repetitions of this phrase, the king grew angry and plotted to destroy the man.
The King’s Plot
The king gave the man two silver rings and told him they were his to keep, but in fact the king meant to avenge himself through them. The man, whom everybody now called No-King-as-God, took the rings, put them into a dried and empty ram's horn, and gave them to his wife to keep for him. A week later the king called No-King-as-God and sent him to a distant village, to tell the people to come and help build up the city walls.
The Unfaithful Wife
As soon as No King Like God had gone, the king sent for his wife. He offered her a thousand *cowries if she would give him the rings which her husband had put in her care. The man’s wife was tempted by the great offer, so she agreed and brought the ram's horn. When the king looked inside, there were the two rings safely stored.
He placed them back in the horn, and gave it to his servants with instructions to throw it far into a lake. They did so, and as the horn fell into the water a great fish swam by and swallowed it.
The Worried Man
Now, as No-King-as-God was returning home from his journey, he met some friends who were going fishing. He went with them and caught a great fish which he took home.
When he got home, he asked his wife where the precious rings were, but she replied that she could not find them. He was very disturbed and disappointed.
The Surprise Discovery
They were still talking when a royal messenger came and told the man he was wanted by the king at once.
As the man set off for the royal court, his son who had been cleaning the fish suddenly struck his knife on something hard and he called to his father. The father pulled out the horn, and when he opened it and looked inside he saw the rings which the king had given him for safe keeping. "Truly," he said, "there is no king like God."
No King Like God!
When the man arrived at the palace, he greeted the king in his usual way, “No King Like God”. The king demanded the rings which he had given the man, and signaled his guards to close round him to kill him.
But No-King-as-God put his hand under his robe and pulled out the horn and handed it to the king. The king opened it and took out his two silver rings. The king wondered how the man could have found the rings and said aloud, "Indeed, there is no king like God“. All his counselors shouted in approval. Then the king divided his city into two, and gave half of it to No-King-as-God to rule.
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