Vocabulary

 

fill	chamber	give away
voice	collect	necklace
bowl	earring	subject (3)
plate	jewelry	back and forth
royal	bracelet	find/found/found
alone	stranger	stand/stood/stood (2)
hand	ground	what’s the matter
joker	dear (3)	put down
shout	out loud	disappointed
wish	notice	knife/knives
fun	whatever	overhear/overheard/overheard
guard	get out	can’t help
touch	serious	turn into
silly	motion	impossible
sure	briefly	absolutely
rose	dish (2)	something
pick	go back	bring/brought/brought
bush	plant (3)	believe (2)
whole	order (3)	frustrated
feast	prepare	bit/bite/bitten
hug	servant	miserable
ouch	crunch	disappear
solid	stream	loaf/loaves
lips	too late	feel/felt/felt
form	chest (2)	motionless
stare	cry/cried	fell/fall/fallen
glance	utensils	as soon as
thirsty	original	definitely
trove	anything	give/gave/given

 
 
 
 

 
 

King Midas

Long ago, there was a king called Midas. King Midas lived with his wife, the queen, and a young daughter, the princess, in a large palace in the land of Phrygia.
 

Hobby

Now, everyone has a hobby. King Midas’s hobby was collecting gold.

In a secret underground chamber, he had a huge trove of gold jewelry and utensils: bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings; cups, bowls, plates, knives, forks, spoons, pitchers. Every day, he would go there and spend hours playing with his gold treasure.
 

Garden

One morning, King Midas went to his garden. “Huh!” he sighed. “Oh, I wish I had more GOLD!

“You want more gold?” said a voice. King Midas turned around. It was a stranger.

“Who are you?!? asked the king. “What are you doing in my garden? Get out of here!”
“I am the god Dionysus,” replied the stranger. “I heard that you wanted more gold?”
“Well of course I do! Everyone wants gold!”
“Are you really, really sure that’s what you want?”
“DEFINITELY! In fact, I wish that whatever I touch turns to gold!”
“I can make so that anything you touch does turn into gold.”
“Don’t be silly. That’s impossible . . . Well . . . Okay then. Do it! please!”
“Alright, as you wish,” said Dionysus. He then walked away.
 

A Flower

“Huh! What a joker,” though King Midas. “Anything I touch will turn to gold! What a joke!”

The king then picked a violet — it turned into solid gold!

“WOW! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!”

King Midas approached a rose-bed and touched a rose plant. It too turned entirely into gold. He touched all the roses, and entire bed turned to gold

“YAY! YAHOO! I’m the HAPPIEST man in the whole world!” he shouted.
 

The Meal

Feeling hungry, King Midas went into his palace dinning hall and sat at his dinning table. Servants brought in his meal.

King Midas picked up a roasted chicken leg, his favorite! . . . But when he bit into it, he couldn’t; it had turned to solid gold.

He then picked up a piece of bread. But that too turned to gold.

“Oh boy!” said the king.

He went outside and strolled in his garden.
 

Daddy Daddy

“Daddy, daddy!”

The king turned around. It was his daughter. She was running towards him.

“Look, look at this snowdrop I found in the woods! . . .”

The daughter placed the snowdrop into the king’s hand — and immediately turned into solid gold.

For about a minute, King Midas just stood there and stared at the now golden figure.

Then he began wailing and sobbing, uncontrollably.
 

Crying

“Why are you crying? Aren’t you now the happiest man in the world?” said a voice.

The king looked to his side. It was Dionysus.

“NOOOOOO! . . . . . I am the most miserable person in the whole, wide world,” said the king. “This is awful! This is terrible . . . I just wish to go back to how things were before . . .”
“Are you certain?” asked Dionysus.
“YES! ABSOLUTELY!
“Okay. Go and wash your hands in the river Pactolus. That’s all.”
 

The River

King Midas ran as fast as he could. He dived into the river and washed his hands.

When he returned to his garden, he touched the gold violet. It turned back to normal. He touched all the roses in the the rose bed; they too returned to normal.

“YIPPY!”

The king then went to his daughter and touched her . . . and she came back to life. He embraced her.

In quick order, King Midas gave most of his gold away to his subjects, and even strangers.
 

 

 

 Questions

King. Midas was a farmer, a peasant. True or false? Who was Midas?

Queen. King Midas cared about his people and his kingdom. Is this right or wrong?

Princess. One day, did he meet an old friend? What happened in the garden one day?

Prince. Did King Midas become very thrilled, excited and happy? Why was he very happy?

Royalty. The king was happy for the rest of his life. Is this correct or wrong? What happened?

Nobility, Aristocracy. What happened in the end? In the end,

Serfs, Peasants. Is there a moral or lesson to this story?
 
 
 
Palace. Have you heard of the story of King Midas? Do you know of any other stories with a similar theme?

Castle. Do you know of anyone who is similar to King Midas? Describe them.

Mansion, Manor. Have you heard of the “Midas touch”? Do some people have the Midas touch?

Farm House. What might happen in the future?

Cottage. Do you think the meaning of the story of King Midas got warped or corrupted through time? Should the story of King Midas be rehabilitated?