t of the
day when it should end. Be wiser thou; let our words find rest within
thy heart."

The newly-made king listened attentively to all this, and felt grieved
that he should have lost even the time he had already missed for making
preparations for his loss of power.

He addressed the wise man who had spoken, saying, "Advise me, oh, spirit
of wisdom, how I may prepare for the days which will come upon me in the
future."

"Naked thou camest to us and naked thou wilt be sent to the desolate
island of which I have told thee," replied the other. "At present thou
art king, and may do as pleaseth thee; therefore send workmen to this
island; let them build houses, till the ground, and beautify the
surroundings. The barren soil will be changed into fruitful fields,
people will journey there to live, and thou wilt have established a new
kingdom for thyself, with subjects to welcome thee in gladness when thou
shalt have lost thy power here. The year is short, the work is long:
therefore be earnest and energetic."

The king followed this advice. He sent workmen and materials to the
desolate island, and before the close of his temporary power it had
become a blooming, pleasant, and attractive spot. The rulers who had
preceded him had anticipated the day of their power's close with dread,
or smothered all thought of it in revelry; but he looked forward to it
as a day of joy, when he should enter upon a career of permanent peace
and happiness.

The day came; the freed slave, who had been made king, was deprived of
his authority; with his power he lost his royal garments; naked he was
placed upon a ship, and its sails set for the desolate isle.

When he approached its shores, however, the people whom he had sent
there came to meet him with music, song, and great joy. They made him a
prince among them, and he lived with them ever after in pleasantness and
peace.

The wealthy man of kindly disposition is God, and the slave to whom He
gave freedom is the soul which He gives to man. The island at which the
slave arrives is the world; naked and weeping he appears to his parents,
who are inhabitants that greet him warmly and make him their king. The
friends who tell him of the ways of the country are his "good
inclinations." The year of his reign is his span of life, and the
desolate island is the future world, which he must beautify by good
deeds, "the workmen and material," or else live lonely and desolate
forever.