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The King Who Wanted to Make the Day Longer

One day a king went into the fields to see how his people worked.
The people worked very hard. They worked from morning till night. But the king thought that they did too little work. The day was too short for him.

He ordered all the people to come to him and said,
"The day is too short. You do too little work. We must make the day longer. The man who will do that will get a piece of gold."
A man came up to him and said, "I can make a machine which will make the day longer."
"Make it at once," said the king.

The man took a very large wheel. Then he fixed a handle to it and the machine was ready.
The king looked at it and said; "It is only a wheel with a handle!"
"But it is a very good machine! Only you must turn the wheel yourself. Otherwise it will not make the day longer. And you must turn the wheel from morning till night without stopping."
The king said, "If I must do it, I shall do it."

Early the next morning when the people went to work, the king began to turn the handle of the machine. He turned and turned the handle all day without stopping. When evening came, he was very tired.

After the sun went down, the man came up to the king and said, "Well, was the day longer today?"
"Oh, yes, it was! It was as long as a week! It is a good machine, but can't you or another man turn the handle?" said the king.
"Oh, yes, we can," answered the man, "but then the day will not be longer."

The king thought for a moment and then said, "If only I must turn the handle, then I don't want to make the day longer."

But he had to give the man a piece of gold.