Once there was a king. He loved stories.

“Tell me a story!” he said all the time.

At the end of the story, he said,

“And then? What happened next?”

   

“Nothing. This is the end,” said the story-teller.

“Tell me a story that has no end. I want a never-ending story.”

The story-teller thought and thought. All his stories had an end.

He could not think of a never-ending story.

Then he had a bright idea.. He began to tell a new story.

“Once there was a king.

He lived in a big palace.

The palace had a big kitchen and a big storehouse. There were big heaps of grain in the storehouse. There was a hole in the wall of the storehouse.

A little sparrow saw the hole, and swiftly flew inside the storehouse. Then she picked a grain and flew away.”

“What happened next?” said the king.

“Then another sparrow saw the hole, flew in, picked a grain and flew away.”

“Oh, and then? What happened next?”

“Then a third sparrow saw the hole, flew in, picked a grain and flew away.”

“And then?”

“Then a fourth sparrow saw the hole….” The story went on and on like this.

Even now, the story-teller is telling the king this story about the grains and the sparrows.

If you don’t believe me, you can go there and see for yourself.