"Almustafa continues and says:

Tell me, people of Orphalese, what have you in these houses?

"Nobody can have anything in houses. Your houses, if they remain houses, are going to be your graves and nothing else. Yes, they give you a certain security, safety, but they take away so much in return that they leave you as soulless as they are.

"There is an ancient story. A king had conquered many kingdoms, and had naturally created many enemies and had killed so many people that slowly, slowly he started becoming afraid that the same could happen to him; he could be assassinated. To protect himself he created a beautiful palace with no windows, just one door. The palace was beautiful, cut out of the best marble.

"He was so suspicious and afraid of death that he was not satisfied with one guard – he put seven guards on the gate, in a certain order. The first guard had to be guarded by the second guard, and the second guard had to be guarded by the third guard. He was making it an absolute certainty that no murderer could enter the palace.

"One of his friends, also a great king, heard about this beautiful palace, with such impeccable security. He went to see the palace, and the owner of the palace was immensely happy to see his friend. He took him inside and showed him; everything in the palace was a piece of art. And the system of guarding was his invention; never before had it been done. One guard, guarding another… It was a sevenfold measure of security.

"The guest king was very happy, and he said, 'I am going to make the same palace for myself.' This he said when they had come out of the palace and they were standing in the beautiful garden surrounding it. A beggar was sitting outside the gate of the garden – he started laughing.

"The owner of the palace was obviously offended, and he asked the beggar, 'What is the meaning of your laughter? If you cannot explain it you will lose your head just now.'

"The beggar said, 'There will be no need, because once I was also a great king – greater than you."