There was once a mighty King who ruled a great land. His people throughout the countryside were often attacked by enemies, and so the king built a huge city with high strong, walls, and set a powerful guard around it Some of his subjects came to live in the city, but there were many who preferred to live on the plains round about.
He planted a tree in the courtyard beside the fountain in the center of the city. Now the fruit from this tree was quite remarkable, because it was so tasty and nourishing that whoever ate the Marvelous fruit would be satisfied all day. He commanded the people to eat the fruit and to take some to their brothers through-out the land and then to take the fruit to other lands as well.
Soon, the King had to take his soldiers to the distant boundries of his land
to do battle. So he placed a guard at the front gate and one at the back gate and marched off to war. His final instructions to his people were that they should take the fruit to their fellow citizens in the country.
Now every week the King sent two of his soldiers to replace the ones who watched over the city so that the guard would always be fresh and he could have word of how things fared with his people.
When the first pair returned from the Bountiful City, he asked them, "Have my people shared the Marvelous Fruit with their brothers across the land?"
His soldiers replied, "Sire, there is a drought in the country, and so the citizens have taken the seeds from the fruit and planted a tree in each yard in the city."
The king sent the next replacements with the command, "Share the Marvelous Fruit with your brothers across the land." When the next pair returned from
the Bountiful City, he asked them, "Have my people shared the fruit?" His soldiers replied, "Sire, the drought has turned to famine in the country, but in your city there is plenty of fruit and the citizens have collected handfuls of the seeds from the fruit and keep them in their homes."
The king sent the next replacements with the command, "Share the Marvelous Fruit with your brothers across the land. " When those soldiers returned, he asked them, "Have my people shared the fruit?" They answered, "Sire, the citizens welcome the starving refugees and travellers that come to the Bountiful City, but they now have collected great sacks of the seeds from the fruit and store them up in barns."
Again the king sent two of his men with the command, "Share the Marvelous Fruit with your brothers across the land." When they returned from the City, he asked them, "Have my people shared the fruit?" His soldiers replied, "Sire, people across the countryside are dying for lack of food. The neighboring countries also have terrible famine. In your city the people are fat and happy, and every week, sometimes several times a week, they join together for a feast, sharing the fruit together in the city hall"
So the King sent four soldiers to his city but this time they went with new instructions. Two opened the front gate and cried out, "The enemies are in the city!" The other two opened the back gates and let the enemies in. The people ran in terror. Some were captured and carried away, still with seeds in their pockets. Some were killed. Some of the people grabbed up armfuls of fruit and
sacks of seeds, and fled out of the city.
They ran across the countryside to hide, and many seeds were scattered and spilled. Some people took refuge in other countries. Wherever the people went, there grew up trees of the Marvelous fruit, because of all of the seeds that fell. People everywhere ate the fruit from the trees.
For years afterward, the people of the Bountiful City called that the Day of Loss, because of the blood that was spilled, and the seeds that were scattered and lost. But across the nations, it became known as the Day of Restoration , for life was brought to them on that day.
