A HUNDRED years or more after the time of Alfred the Great there was
a king of England named Canute. King Canute was a Dane; but the
Danes were not so fierce and cruel then as they had been when they were
at war with King Alfred.
The great men and officers who were around King Canute were always
praising him.
"You are the greatest man that ever lived," one would say.
Then another would say, "O king! there can never be another man so
mighty as you."
And another would say, "Great Canute, there is nothing in the world that
dares to disobey you."
The king was a man of sense, and he grew very tired of hearing such
foolish speeches.
One day he was by the seashore, and his officers were with him. They
were praising him, as they were in the habit of doing. He thought that
now he would teach them a lesson, and so he bade them set his chair on
the beach close by the edge of the water.
"Am I the greatest man in the world?" he asked.
"O king!" they cried, "there is no one so mighty as you."
"Do all things obey me?" he asked.
"There is nothing that dares to disobey you, O king!" they said. "The
world bows before you, and gives you honor."
"Will the sea obey me?" he asked; and he looked down at the little waves
which were lapping the sand at his feet.
The foolish officers were puzzled, but they did not dare to say "No."
"Command it, O king! and it will obey," said one.
"Sea," cried Canute, "I command you to come no farther! Waves, stop
your rolling, and do not dare to touch my feet!"
But the tide came in, just as it always did. The water rose higher and
higher. It came up around the king's chair, and wet not only his feet, but
also his robe. His officers stood about him, alarmed, and wondering
whether he was not mad.
Then Canute took off his crown, and threw it down upon the sand.
"I shall never wear it again," he said. "And do you, my men, learn a lesson
from what you have seen. There is only one King who is all-powerful;
and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the ocean in the hollow of his
hand. It is he whom you ought to praise and serve above all others."
