The Enchanted Shirt Story - English Animated Stories For Kids - Kids Learning Tv

Once upon a time, there lived a king. He had all the comforts and luxuries in his palace. He had a big retinue of servants to look after all his needs and to serve him day and night. In spite of all this, the king was always sorrowful and worried.
One day, the king went to meet a learned saint. He bowed to him in reverence and said, “O holy man, I have all the luxuries in my palace; yet, I am unhappy and worried. Can you show me a way to be always happy and cheerful?”
The saint heard the king patiently and said, “O king! There is only one solution to you unhappiness. Only for one night, you will have to wear a happy man’s shirt and go to sleep.”
The king thought that it was a very easy solution to his problem.
The king called his most trusted men and asked them to travel all over the kingdom in search of a happy man.
The king’s men went to each and every village in the kingdom, but they did not find even a single happy man. Every man they met had some sorrow in life, some grieved because they were poor, while others grieved because they had not achieved name and fame. Some complained that they had no children, while others regretted having bad children. Some men were unhappy because of their wives, while others were dejected because they were uneducated and ignorant. Thus, every man had some sorrow in his life.
After a long and tiring search, the king’s men went to a beggar who was sitting by the road-side. The king’s men asked him, “Hey friend! Are you really a happy man? Have you no sorrow in your life?”
“Friends, I have no sorrow in my life. I am very happy,” replied the beggar.
The king’s men looked relieved and they said, “Ah! We have been searching for a man like you. Our king needs the shirt of a happy man like you for a night. If you give your shirt to the king for a night, he will reward you handsomely. You will not have to beg for alms for the rest of your life. So, will you please give your shirt to us?”
The beggar laughed and said, “Forgive me, my friends. I am sorry to say that I am not able to fulfill the king’s wish because I have no shirt.”
“Well, in that case, how do you call yourself a happy man?” asked the king’s men with great surprise.
“Friends, I am really happy because I do not desire to earn name, fame and wealth. I lead a very simple life and I am a contented man. That is the reason why I am happy,” said the beggar.
The king’s men returned to the palace and told the king about what the happy beggar had said about happiness.
The king now understood that when comforts and luxuries exceed the minimum needs, they leads to sorrow and miseries in life.
Moral lesson of the story is that our ever increasing needs lead to sorrow and miseries in our lives. Therefore, we should reduce our needs.