An Italian folktale.
A Happy Mann's shirt.
One upon a time, there lived a good and honest king. But he was very unhappy. He was so sad, he wouldn't eat, and couldn't sleep. So the queen called for the best doctor in the kingdom.
The wise doctor said,"To be happy again, the king must find and wear the shirt of a happy man".
The King looked up from his bed. "That's all?" he asked. "Ask the prime minister to give me his shirt. He is very powerful, and his wife is very beautiful. He must be a very happy man".
But the prime minister said,"Oh, no.I'm not a happy man. My son doesn't want to be a minister like me. He want to run away to be a treasure hunter". He began to cry.
So the queen called all the rich people in the kingdome to come to the castle. All were healthy, and most had big houses and and a lot of expensive things. Their families were clever and beautiful. But not one of them could say they were really happy.
But the queen would not give up. She asked her soldiers to look all over the kingdome for a happy man. All the soldiers came back with the same story. They couldn't find a man who was really happy.
Then one day, a young soldiers saw a man sitting in a field. The man was singing a loud happy song. "Why are you singging? You are poor and dirty, and you have nothing," the soldiers said. "I am happy because I have everything I want, and I've never wanted what I couldn't have," the creerful man said.
The soldiers did not believe him. But when he told the queen about it, she asked the soldiers to bring the happy man to the castle.
At last, the happy man arrived at the castle. When the kind saw him, He was surprise. Then he started to laugh. Then happy man wore no shirt.