a long long time ago there lived a kind king named Midas he was loved by everyone but sometimes he
acted very foolishly once when he was granted any wish by the gods he chose to ask for the gift of
golden touch which means anything he would touch would turn into gold but things didn't
go according to his plans and he soon ended up losing his daughter whom he loved the most after
pleading with the gods his gift was taken away and his daughter returned back to life I would think
after this that perhaps Midas would have acquired a little common sense but he didn't Midas decided
from then on to live a simple life and went to live in the mountains and it was there that he
met the God pan, pan played music with his pipes and people passing by who would be mesmerized he
would spend many hours playing music and soon he was very well known around midas thought
that pans music was the most beautiful in the world and often spent days praising pan for his
musical skills pretty soon the gods heard about pan skill but one god apollo who was the god of
music and arts didn't like this one day Apolo challenged pan to a musical contest a date was
sent and Tomales the mountain god was to be the judge people from all around came to witness the
spectacle everyone hushed as pan began to blow on his pipes everyone enjoyed his playful melody but
none as much as pans dedicated follower king midas who sat close by dancing in his seat
at the end of his performance everyone cheered for him it was now the turn of Apollo he took
out his lyre and gently ran his fingers across the strings the crowd was awestruck and gasped
at the beauty in just those few notes after the performance Tomales declared apollo the
winner and everyone cheered except Midas Midas was furious that pan didn't win the contest so
he dashed over to Apollo to protest your music is not fit for human ears he proclaimed Apollo
taken aback by this outburst could not believe what he was hearing and he said you must have
the ears of a donkey if you think Pan is better than me saying that Apollo turned Midas's ears
into the law furry ears of a donkey Midas was terribly embarrassed how could he appear before
his people with these big donkey ears no one would ever take him seriously again
from that day onwards Midas was seen wearing a large hat at all times his subjects often remarked on it
where did King Midas get that strange hat and why does he insist on wearing it all the time
nobody knew the truth except for Midas himself and one other man donkey ears or no donkey ears Midas had
hair just like any other man and like any other man's hair it needed to be cut Midas's barber was
sworn to secrecy and promised never to tell of the donkey ears as long as he lived
but the secret was too big for the barber to contain soon enough the barber found he was desperate to tell the secret
he just had to he was true to his word for many years but as time passed his need to share the
secret grew stronger until one day he could hold out no more the barber went out into a field dug
a hole in the dirt and whispered into the earth itself King Midas has donkeys ears feeling much
better now he covered the hole and walked back to his shop time passed and reeds grew up over
the place where the barber had dug a hole and told the secret when the wind blew through them
you could hear them whispering and imagine Midas's surprised when the reeds of the meadow whispered
in the breeze these words King Midas has donkeys ears King Midas has donkeys ears very soon king
midas was a laughing stock so once more he left his home and went to live in the Far mountains