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The The regular beat of a king on his feet
A musical story By Efrat Srebro
All rights reserved
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page 1
Ronni was sleeping in his bed, holding his teddy bear and dreaming that he was a powerful king!
In his dream he turned to the crowd and said :
”I command you to hop on one foot
Quietly, without sounding a hoot
and when the clock strikes three
begin dancing like the wind in a tree!"
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Ronni loved being a King,
giving out orders here, there and everywhere.
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And so busy ruling his Kingdom was he,
that he forgot to eat and drink-even a cup of tea. When evening came, oh so hungry and weak was he!
“I don’t feel well, •I’m dizzy, my head hurts,
Help! Call the King’s doctor”.
The King’s doctor came very fast,
stethoscope swinging around her neck
and medicine bag in hand.
She listened to Ronni’s heart and said:
“Bom, Bom, Bom, Bom
Your heart beats non-stop
Just like a clock ticking strong”.
"Don’t you worry, you’re just fine!
Have you eaten today?”
No "said Ronni, I had no time!
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“Well, let me think,,,,the answer is simple:
You must eat and drink,
then you’ll feel well again, that’s all!”
And so saying, the doctor poured a cup of tea. •Ronni the King sipped, relaxed and •began to feel much better,for all to see.
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“Please tell me, dear doctor,could you really hear my heart?”said Ronni the king
“Yes, I heard your heart beating loud and clear” the doctor said. “Would you like to hear it too?”
“Oh yes I do want to hear my heart beat!”, shouted Ronni, the King ,jumping to his feet.
He asked for the stethoscope,placing one end on his heart and the other ends to his ears and he listened…and listened….and listened.
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Suddenly he shouted with joy:
“Bom, Bom, Bom, Bom
My heart is beating like a clock ticking strong.”
This is just fantastic!
I have a brilliant idea:
“I’ll make sure everyone throughout the kingdom hears my heart beats,and I will order all to work to the pace of my beats:
All the musicians will play to the pace of my heart beats Everyone will speak at the paceof my heart beats
The cars will drive at the same speed and pace,
and we’ll do everything in unison.
•
This is my order!” •
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Ronni, the King, placed a microphone on his heart, connected the microphone to gigantic loudspeakers set up throughout the kingdom and ordered that they be turned on every single minute of the day:
In the morning, in the afternoon, and even in the evening ,in bed,the King’s heartbeat could be heard .
And Ronni, the King ,loved it.
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In the next morning, Ronni the King decided to invite
every one to a party and said:
” It will be such a merry party, with lots of dancing and the King’s royal orchestra, music making
and the best musicians playing.
Lots of special foods to eat and everyone will dance to the same beat, to the rhythm of the king’s heartbeat”
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So, Ronni the King commanded the Royal Orchestra to play and said:
“With Mozart’s ‘Toy Symphony’ you will start
and of course, it shall be played to the beat of my heart!”
The musicians looked at one another with a questioning look, and began to play the symphony according to the book.
After just a few minutes, the King angrily stopped them and said:
"That’s not the way to play the ‘Toy Symphony’ of Mozart the Master,play it faster!”
The musicians were silent for a while until the orchestra’s drummer said, with a slight smile:
•
“Your Royal Highness, there is a problem, oh so small.
We are obeying your order and your call,
to the beat of your heart we sing and play, but the beat of your heart does not match the music’s way.”
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Ronny the King thought and thought and thought and finally said:
“Yes, you are right, we do have a problem, but don’t worry, I will use my head and solve it now.
…I will order a faster beat of my heart.
That’s simple and oh so smart!”
Ronny spoke to his heart and commanded it to beat faster but nothing happened.
“It seems I didn’t make myself clear,
I will try again” said Ronny the King.
“Dear heart of mine, I order you to beat faster!” •
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Ronni listened to his heart for one minute and then another, but nothing happened.
Ronni the King ,began to cry and said:
“What is happening? It’s not working, what shall I do?
My heart has broken; my heart is not well,•it doesn’t beat faster and won’t do as I tell.
Help! Help!
Where is the doctor? Call her here at once!”
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The doctor entered the room and the King cried out:
“My heart cannot beat any faster, it is not working.I ordered it to beat faster and nothing happened.
I command you to fix it!”
The doctor listened to the King’s heart and said:“You can relax. I can hear it loud and clear.
Your heart is fine, it works just as it should.
Would you like your heart to beat faster?”
“Yes”, answered the King, “and I already told my heart to beat faster.
It just doesn’t want to and it must”.
The doctor smiled and said:“The heart cannot understand demands and commands given in words.
Our heart beats faster when we run.
If you want your heart to beat faster,you’ll have to start running and have some fun".
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“Run? Move my body?
That’s really not a problem.” said Ronni the King, and immediately began to run….
The musicians listened to his heart beat booming through the loudspeakers and played the music faster, exactly at the right rhythm and Ronni had a wonderful time.
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At the same time, outside the castle gates, there was a great commotion.
On hearing those very fast heart beats, people began to run through the streets. Drivers drove faster.
People spoke faster
And no-one could understand a thing that was said.
It all caused endless mix-ups and mistakes.
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The painter couldn’t think or paint because the beat wasn’t his own, it was someone else’s.
Whoever dared to rest his feet and eat an apple or even a pumpkin seed almost choked eating at such a speed.
People everywhere wanted to go back to doing things at their own pace.
They wanted the commotion and confusion to stop.
They waited for the King to change his command and most important of all, stop running.
They had no more strength for this race!
Ronni the King, ran around the room and then ran out to the royal square.
He looked around in amazement and said:
“Oh no! how terrible!
My heart beat has confused everyone.
I’ve never seen such chaos in my kingdom”
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With a sad face, on a bench for two,
Ronni, the King, sat near his black cat,not knowing what to do.
He felt tired.
He felt exhausted.
He understood it wasn’t that simple to be a King.
He understood that although he liked having his heartbeats heard throughout the Kingdom,it was just too complicated and even dangerous and not that smart.
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Ronni, the King, quickly took the microphone away from his heart and cried out in a loud voice:
“I am sorry, I was wrong.
I ordered you to do everything at my heartbeat’s pace.
That’s just impossible.
From this very moment, each and every one of you will listen to your own heart beat and live at the pace that suits you.”
page 15
Exactly at that moment, Ronni felt a soft touch on his head.
He awoke, opened his eyes and said:
“I’m so tired; I’ve been running and running and running…”
Ronni’s mother smiled and asked:
“Did you have a dream, Ronni?”
“Yes, Mummy” answered Ronni,
“Thank goodness it was just a dream. I don’t want to be a King telling everyone how to play and run.
I want to play with my blocks,build with my Lego set and just have fun.
I want to play with my friends without ordering everyone to do this and do that and deciding all sorts of things”.
Ronni was quiet for a moment and then said: “I want to go to kindergarten today!”
Ronni’s mother smiled and kissed him gently.”
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The end
THE REGULAR BEAT OF A KING ON HIS FEET was written by
EFRAT SREBRO
Illustration •
LAURA VAINBERG
Traslated to english by
ESTER COREN ANKORY
All rights reserved
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