Perhaps it is for the best
It is said that there was a king who ruled the kingdom of Torenza , and its capital was Torin. This king had a wise minister, just as Haman was a minister to Pharaoh. This minister was a man of few words, and whenever something bad happened, he would say, “Perhaps it is for the best.”
The king loved hunting and made sure his minister was by his side. Several times, the king’s hunting was unsuccessful. And the minister would say, “Perhaps it is for the best.”
The king returned to his palace and asked for a blade to sharpen the arrowhead himself, no longer trusting the skill of the arrow-maker. Suddenly, without realizing it, he cut his finger, and blood flowed down his palm.
The minister turned and uttered his famous phrase, “Perhaps it is for the best.”
The king was furious with the minister. He looked at his severed finger and ordered the guards to take the minister to prison. The minister said nothing more than, “Perhaps it is for the best.”
Three months later, after he had lost his finger and his wound had healed, he decided to go hunting alone, without any guards. While wandering in the wilderness, he was captured by men whose private parts were barely covered. They were overjoyed with this valuable catch: a man on horseback, dressed in clothes the likes of which they had never seen before, and carrying his quiver.
They took the king with them to their dwelling, and their chief decided to offer him as a sacrifice to the gods to appease them. The king was bound with ropes and hung from a wooden pole in the middle of the square.
The skilled archers lined up, awaiting the leader’s signal to begin. But before giving his signal, the leader asked the priest to check the offering. The priest examined the scales and said to the chief: “This man is not fit to be an offering to our gods; he only has nine fingers.”
They released the king, and he rejoiced greatly. He had escaped death by losing only one finger, which was better than losing his head. He remembered his minister’s words, “Perhaps it is for the best.”
Upon arriving at the palace, he ordered the guards to bring the minister in. Now I understand what you said when you cut off my finger, “Perhaps it is for the best.” But I didn’t understand when the guards took you to prison, you said, “Perhaps it is for the best.”
The minister said, smiling: “If I had been with you, my lord, on the hunt and they had caught us, I would have been the sacrifice.”
