Many years ago, in a faraway land, lived an unhappy prince. In many respects he was well
satisfied with his life. He lived in a beautiful palace, his subjects were devoted to him, he had
servants to carry out his every wish, and altogether he led quite a comfortable life. Despite the
luxury surrounding him, the prince wasn't satisfied. What he wanted to do more than anything
was to walk through the kingdom and visit with the subjects. Since his own life was so pleasant
he wanted to find out what he could do to make their lives happier. He hadn't been able to gratify
his wish because the land throughout the kingdom was extremely rocky. So much so, that
whenever he walked on it, the soles of his feet (which were exceedingly tender to begin with) got
so badly cut and bruised it was impossible for him to walk without great pain.
One day the prince had an idea; he sent out word for all the wise men in the kingdom to come
to the palace. Surely, with their combined wisdom, they could find the answer to his problem.
When all had assembled, the prince explained the situation and asked how long it would take them
to reach a solution. After conferring with the others, the oldest wise man said, "Give us three
days, your majesty, and we will have your answer." "So be it," said the prince and had them
shown to the council chambers so that they might work undisturbed.
The three days passes quickly for the wise men. No matter how many ideas they came up with,
none seemed even slightly practical. Finally, on the evening of the third day, they sent a
messenger to the prince. They has a solution, they announced, and would present it the following
morning. Eagerly, the prince entered the throne room the next morning. He looked expectantly
at the wise men. As before, the oldest spoke: "Your majesty, the solution to your problem is to
slaughter all the cows i...