Once upon a time, there was a kingdom named Knadda. All the subjects in Knadda were happy and prosperous. The Kingdom of Knadda had everything anyone could want. The water was clear. The air was pure. Everyone in Knadda had plenty to eat and drink. Every family had a beautiful home in which to live. It had been this way for as long as the people could remember.
The people of Knadda were grateful for their good fortune. No one really knew why they should have such a good life. One day, the people went to the home of the Wizard to seek an answer to this question.
“O great and all-knowing Wizard. Why do we have such good fortune?”
“Kind people,” the Wizard said. “The answer is found in these words etched into the Great Tablet and is really very simple.”
“And what might that answer be, great Wizard?”
The wizard read:
“Put back what you take out. Repair what you damage. Clean what you soil. Respect what you use and it will respect you. Do these things and you will always prosper. Thus has it always been and thus shall it always be.”
So the people of Knadda lived by the words of the Wizard. They prospered for many years, as did their children and their children’s children. There was plenty of food for all to eat. There was plenty of water for all to drink. There were plenty of stones and trees for all to build dwellings. Life in Knadda was good.
One day, a stranger came to Knadda. This stranger called all the subjects together in the town square. When they had gathered, he spoke to them.
“Good people of Knadda. I have come from a kingdom far away. I am here because the Kingdom of Knadda is prosperous in many things. You have clear water, clean air, many beautiful trees. You can grow plentiful crops and build fine homes. For that reason, I have chosen to build a factory here. In this factory, we will make the finest chairs in the world. People from every kingdom will buy our chairs. You will all become wealthy.”
“But we already are wealthy,” the people said. “The Wizard tells us so.”
“Wizards don’t know everything. Trust in me and I shall show you a wealth beyond anything you can imagine. Follow me and you shall have work for the rest of your lives, and the lives of your children and your children’s children.”
So the people of Knadda followed the stranger and turned away from the words of the Wizard. The factory was built and began to make chairs of all kinds: wooden chairs, stone chairs, even golden chairs for the highest royalty. Sure enough, the people became wealthier than they could have ever imagined.
The Wizard looked upon all of this with alarm. He begged the people to turn away from the factory and return to life as it was before. “Remember the words of wisdom I once spoke,” he begged. “Respect what you use.”
“Begone, Wizard!” the subjects angrily shouted. “We no longer need your tired old wisdom. Can’t you see that we are wealthier now than ever before? We shall make chairs for the rest of our lives, our children will make chairs for the rest of their lives and our children’s children shall do the same. The stranger promised us. THAT is how it always shall be.”
Sadly, the Wizard turned away. He returned to his home on the edge of the kingdom. The subjects of Knadda vowed never to trust in him again.
Before long, many new people, upon hearing of the great wealth to be found there, began to come to Knadda. They cut down many trees to build dwellings. They demanded more food than the fields could grow. They drank more water than the streams could provide. Soon, a new dwelling was being built on every piece of open land.
The chair factory was running around the clock, making chairs for every kingdom in the realm. All the water the people didn’t drink was pumped into the factory. When it came out, it was dirty and smelly. Every stone in Knadda was dug up and used to make chairs. There was not enough food to feed everyone in the kingdom because there were so many people and so much less land on which to grow crops. All the wealth of the land was gone. Even the great trees were nearly gone, used for building dwellings and making chairs.
Then one day, the stranger who built the chair factory again called the subjects together in the town square.
“Good people of Knadda. I have bad news. The chair factory will be closed forever.”
“But why?” called out the frightened subjects.
“The water is fouled. The air is unclean. The trees, the stones, the minerals, all are gone. We cannot make any more chairs in Knadda.”
“But you promised us work for as long as we lived, and for as long as our children lived and as long as our children’s children lived. What shall we do now?”
“That is not my concern. I am moving the chair factory to another kingdom. One that has all the things I need to make my chairs. The things Knadda once had. Goodbye.”
The people were afraid. Whatever would they do? How would they live? The great wealth they once had was now gone. “What shall we do?” they cried in despair.
“Let us visit the Wizard,” someone suggested. “He will know what we should do.”
“Yes. The Wizard knows all. Let us go ask the Wizard what to do.”
All the subjects of Knadda went to the Wizard’s dwelling at the edge of the kingdom. “Whatever shall we do?” they all asked at once.
The Wizard, now a very old man, stepped out of his dwelling and read the same words from the Great Tablet he had read so many years before:
“Put back what you take out. Repair what you damage. Clean what you soil. Respect what you use and it will respect you. Do these things and you will always prosper. Thus has it always been and thus shall it always be.”
“Old fool,” they shouted. “What good are those words now?”
“Seize him!” another screamed. “He speaks nonsense.”
“Banish the Wizard! Banish the Wizard!” they chanted in unison.
The people fell upon the Wizard and began to push him toward the gates of the kingdom. As they did so, they cursed and mocked him. When they reached the gates, they threw the old wizard out into the wilderness. “Good riddance,” they all shouted as they closed the gates and returned to their grand dwellings.
Many generations later, two scientists exploring in an uncharted desert came upon an old, weathered stone tablet buried in the hot sand. The scientists were puzzled. How, they wondered, could such a tablet have gotten into this wasteland? As they began to brush the sand away from the tablet, they discovered these few simple words:
“Put back what you take out. Repair what you damage. Clean what you soil. Respect what you use and it will respect you. Do these things and you will always prosper. Thus has it always been and thus shall it always be.”