Fit for a King

There once lived a king who loved to eat. He enjoyed fancy meals of roast goose, stuffed turkey, freshly baked pies, and ice cream desserts. Usually the king ate every scrap. But one day he did not.

“My food is boring,” he told the cook. “Bring me something new. Something fit for a king!”

The cook worked all morning. At lunch he served the king a bowl of thick clam chowder blended with a Cheddar cheese sauce.

“This is much too salty!” grumbled the king, and he fed it to the palace dog.

For dinner the cook made boiled snails, fried bananas, and pickles. He served it in a shiny silver bowl.

“Too sour!” complained the king, and he fed his dinner to the palace goat.

The cook stayed up all night thinking about the king’s next meal. In the morning he brought the king purple eggs and silver fish swimming in a golden, honey gravy.

“Too sweet!” the angry king roared, and he flung his breakfast out the palace window. “Bring me a lunch that’s fit for a king or I shall have you for my dinner!”

Now the cook had no wish to become the king’s next meal. He went back to the palace kitchen and sat down to think. Finally he had an idea!

At lunchtime the cook presented the king with a covered dish. “Please, your majesty, eat this with your hands,” he said.

The king sighed and lifted the lid. He picked up his lunch and took a bite. How strange and sticky it was—and sweet, but not too sweet. Finally, he smiled. “My dear cook, this is truly fit for a king!” he declared. “What do you call it?”

“It is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” the cook said with a bow. “I made it on freshly baked whole-grain bread.”

“I think I shall need a tall glass of milk,” the king said, smiling.

From then on, the king ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole-grain bread once a day and never tired of it. And the cook? He stayed with the king, who was never unkind to him again.