Page 9 - Three of Happiness

Edgar con nued the story in a hushed but serious tone.
The Queen sat in her chair very quietly for what seemed to be a very long me. She wrinkled her brow, closed her eyes and seemed to be in very deep thought. Finally, she opened her eyes and said, “I appreciate your advice and observa ons but I have decided that we must build this road, no ma er how long it takes, how much it costs or how di cult.”
For an instant, you could hear a pin drop. Then, there was a great commo on. “But your majesty,” they said and they implored her to reconsider. They pleaded and begged and some even made threats, “If you bankrupt the kingdom it will be the end of your reign as the Queen.”
The Queen raised her hand for silence and said, “The decision has been made. Now see to the construction of the road immediately.” She stood, turned and slowly walked out of the room, passing the advisors, who were obligated to bow and remain silent.
A er she was gone, they began to fuss about the cost and how di cult it would be to build such a road. Some even threatened to resign if she followed through with her plan. Just as they were really ge ng worked up, the door opened.
The Queen stood in the door and said, “I know that some of you will not like me for my decision and if you want to resign, do so. I will hold no grudge. But if you choose to stay, the discussion is over and it is me to get to work. Good night.”
The next day they began construc on of the “Queen’s Road,” as her advisors called it. The Queen had hired many local tradesmen and workers. She had to send o for engineers and dra smen to help with the planning.
Workmen had to cut down forests and drain swamps. They had to cut stones and build bridges. It did take a long me and it did cost a lot of money. It was very di cult but the Queen persisted. Many of her advisors thought she was a fool for con nuing the project. She o en red of the task but she did not stop. She con nued to remind herself of the Tree of Happiness.
At first, things were extremely difficult and slow. But gradually, as people became more skilled, the job of building the road began to speed up. To the Queen, however, it was still painfully slow. All of her advisors were against the project. She had no friends and often felt very alone. Still, with courage she did not know she had, she carried on.
I said to Edgar, “She was a lot braver than I would have thought she could manage. Going against all her advisors had to be difficult.” “Oh that was difficult,” replied Edgar. “But she kept thinking of the goal she had... entering the Tree of Happiness.”
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