An Italian Folktale A Happy Man's Shirt
Once upon a time, there lived a good and honest king. But he was very unhappy. He was so s 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 10 to be a minister like me. He wants to run away to be a treasure hunter. He began to cry.
So the queen called all the rich people in the kingdom to come to the castle. All were healthy, and most had big houses 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 kingdom 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 soldier saw a man sitting in a field. The man was singing, a song. "Why are you singing? You are poor and dirty, and you have loud happy nothing," the soldier said.
I am happy because I have everything I want, and I've never wanted what I couldn't have," the cheerful man said.
The soldier did not believe him. But when he told the queen about it, she asked the soldier to bring the happy man to the castle.
At last, the happy man arrived at the castle. When the king saw him, he was surprised. Then he started to laugh. The happy man wore no shirt.