Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/434

260 you, my lord," returned the other. "You are king for one year; and then, doomed to poverty and exile, you perish most miserably. I declare to you, I do not believe that there is in the whole world, such an instance of egregious folly. For would any but a fool choose so short a time of splendour for an end so calamitous?" "Why," replied the king, "you are doubtless right; and therefore, while I yet reign, I will prepare for my future existence. I will send the greater portion of my wealth into a remote land, upon which I may live in comfort, when I am driven into exile." He did so; and for a number of years enjoyed great prosperity, and ended his life in peace.

My beloved, the king, who bequeathed a golden apple to fools, is God. That apple is the world. The king who reigned for a year, is any man who lives in this world (considered with respect to futurity), but as a single hour. Let us then make provision for the future.