King and the Astrologer

Once upon a time, there was a king who really liked to ask the astrologers (people who look at the stars to predict the future) about what would happen to him. One day, a famous astrologer came to the king's city on his way to a place called Benares. The king met with him and asked what was going to happen in the future. But the astrologer told the king some bad news. This made the king really angry, and he ordered that the astrologer be killed, saying, "People like you shouldn't be alive if you're going to make the world unhappy."

However, just before the astrologer was about to be killed, the king had a different thought. He asked the astrologer, "How long will you live?" The astrologer was quick and clever and replied, "The stars say I'll only die a week before Your Majesty." Then he said goodbye. When the king heard this, he turned very pale and looked like he had seen a ghost. He shouted, "Get this unlucky person out of here! Don't let him come back!"

The lesson from this story is that everyone will eventually experience death, no matter who they are.