Once there was a little boy who lived in a wretched hut, with his little sister and a very old man, far off in the forest. Though the little boy did not know it, he was a prince, the heir to a great kingdom. Sad to say, he was also a hunch-back, and spent a great deal of time in bitter pain. One day he was complaining about the wretched poverty in which they lived, the hut that let in the rain and the snow and the cold winds, and their scanty food and miserable clothing, when the old man, who was very kind and wise, sat down and told him all about the good fortune that was ahead of him; that he was the son of a king; that a beautiful palace awaited him; that he was to be very rich and to wear most magnificent garments, and to have the finest things to eat, and the most beautiful objects to look upon.
The young boy was very happy at this, as you may imagine, and his happiness lasted all that day. But the next day his back pained him greatly, and he was as miserable as if he had never heard of the wonderful palace and kingdom that were to be his. So the old man sat down once again by his side and told him something more about the palace. “As soon as you enter its great door,” he said, “you will find your poor hunchback body changed, in the twinkling of an eye, into a body that will be straight and strong and beautiful, and in this palace to which you are going there is never any pain.” At this you may readily believe the boy was delighted, and could not contain himself with longing for the good time to come.
That very night, however, as soon as darkness came on, everything was forgotten, for the small boy, prince though he was, greatly dreaded the dark. This was an especially black night, with a heavy thunder-storm, and the prince was filled with terror. Upon this the wise old man told him something more about the beautiful palace that was to be his; namely, that in the palace and in all the kingdom that were to be his own there was to be no night, and he asked the prince if he could not with courage endure the few nights that were to come before he entered the land of sunshine.
But a great sorrow was before this young boy. It came not many days later in the sudden death of his little sister whom he greatly loved, and as he was grieving at this as if his heart would break, the wise old man told him the most wonderful thing of all about his palace and kingdom, and that was that in them he would see his sister again, more happy and strong and beautiful than she ever was, and into that country there never came so ugly a thing as death.
And so it was that for every sorrow and trouble the prince met in his life in the hovel in the forest, the old man could tell him something beautiful and comforting about the palace and kingdom that were to be his.
And now, do you know, boys and girls, each one of you is this prince, and all of these things that I have told you about are true of you. You have, or will have, all kinds of trouble in this world,—sickness of body and anxiety of spirit, poverty, it may be, and death; but in the palace of the king to which you are going,—as Christ himself, who came from there, has told us,—there is to be no night, and no sorrow, and no weeping, and no death. Everything there is rich and splendid, beautiful and happy. Can you not stand a few short years, even in a hovel, with such a splendid prospect before you?