King Matt the First

by Janusz Korczak

“First of all, we must borrow some money.”

  “Can’t we print some new money?”

  “We can’t right now, because we printed too much during the war. We’ll have to wait a little bit.”

  “But how can we wait when there are so many bills to be paid?”

  “I say we must borrow from the foreign kings.”

  They each ate four cream cakes, drank their coffee, and went home.

  The next day, the Prime Minister went to the king for an audience and said that it would be necessary to borrow money from the richer kings. That would be difficult, because they would have to write very precise documents to the foreign kings, and for that reason there would be two meetings a day every day.

  “Fine,” said Matt. “You hold your meetings, but I’m starting my lessons with the captain today.”

  The Minister of War arrived with the captain. Matt greeted him warmly and even wanted to promote him to major, but the captain had just been promoted from lieutenant and so had not served long enough yet to qualify for major.

  “You will teach me all my classes, and my foreign tutor will only teach me languages.”

  And Matt began to study so avidly that he even forgot about going out to play. Because the captain lived far away, Matt suggested that he and his family move into the palace. The captain had a son, Stash, and a daughter, Helenka. So they all studied together and played together. Sometimes Felek came to their classes, but he missed a lot of them. He didn’t like school.

  Matt went to the council meetings very seldom now.

  “It’s not worth the time,” he’d say. “It’s boring, and I don’t understand much of it anyway.”

  Children were glad to come to the royal gardens. Felek’s father, who was a carpenter before he joined the army, made them a seesaw. And so they played on the seesaw, they played tag, ball games, and firemen, they rowed on the royal pond and went fishing. This made the royal gardener a little angry, and he went to complain to the palace administration. Two windows had already been broken through carelessness. But nobody could say anything, because Matt was now the Reformer King and he made his own arrangements.

  A stove had been ordered for the throne room, because Matt had announced that there was no sense in freezing during an audience.

  When it rained, they played indoors. The footmen were a little angry because the kids tracked up the floors, which then had to be cleaned and waxed. But now the footmen paid less attention to buttoning all their buttons, and so they had more time to work. Anyway, the palace had made them sad before, when it had been as quiet as a tomb. Now it was full of children laughing, running, and shouting. Sometimes the jolly captain joined in their games, even the old doctor would pep up and start dancing or skipping rope with them once in a while. And that was really funny.

  After building the seesaw, Felek’s father knocked together a little cart for them. The cart only had three wheels and kept tipping over, but that was no problem. It was even more fun like that.

  Here is how the chocolate was given out to the children who lived in the capital city: after all the schoolchildren were lined up in two rows along the streets, soldiers came by in trucks and handed out the chocolate. When the soldiers were finished, Matt drove through all the streets of the city. The children ate their chocolate, laughed, and shouted: “Long live King Matt!”

  Matt kept standing up, blowing them kisses, and waving his hat and handkerchief; he wiggled, smiled, and kept moving his arms and head on purpose, so that the children would not think they were being tricked again by some porcelain doll.

  No chance of that. Everyone saw that this, of course, was the real King Matt. The children’s fathers and mothers were with them on the streets, and they were happy, too, because now the children would do better in school, knowing that the king loved them and cared about them.

  The Minister of Education added his own surprise to the festivities by inviting all the diligent, well-behaved students to the theater that evening. And so that night Matt, the captain, Felek, Helenka, and Stash sat in the royal box in a theater full of children.

  As Matt entered his box, the orchestra struck up the national anthem. Everyone rose, and Matt stood at attention, as etiquette required. Now the children could see their king for the entire evening, but they were a little upset that he was not wearing his crown, even though he was in military uniform.

  The ministers were not at the performance, because they were just finishing up the document concerning loans from abroad and so had no time. But the Minister of Education dropped by the royal box for a couple of minutes and said, sounding pleased: “This at least makes sense. The students who really deserved it are getting their reward.”

  Matt thanked him politely, and the day ended very nicely.

  But, to make up for it, the next day Matt had difficult duties to perform.

  All the ministers and all the foreign ambassadors would be there, and he would hand them the paper about the foreign loan with much ceremony.

  Matt had to sit and listen to what they had been writing for three months. This was harder than ever for Matt, since he had lost the habit of going to meetings, and especially right after such a pleasant day.

  The document was divided into four parts.

  In the first part, the ministers had written in Matt’s name how often Matt’s great ancestors had helped the foreign kings by lending them money when they needed it. That was the historical section of the loan document.

  Then came a very long geographical section. It contained a list of how much land belonged to Matt, how many cities, how many forests and factories, how many coal and salt mines, how much oil, how many people lived in his kingdom, and how much grain, potatoes, and sugar Matt’s kingdom grew each year. That was the geographical section.

  The third part of the document was the economic section. Here the ministers boasted that Matt’s country was rich and had lots of money, that taxes flowed into the treasury every year and, of course, he would repay the loan, they shouldn’t be the least bit afraid.

  If Matt wanted to borrow, it was only to make his economy even stronger and richer.

  In the fourth section, they wrote about the new railroads, cities, houses, and factories that would be built in Matt’s kingdom.

  It might even have been interesting, but there were so many numbers—a million of this, ten million of that; the ambassadors kept checking their watches, and Matt had begun to yawn.

  When at last the reading was over, the ambassadors said: “We will send this document to our governments; our kings very much want to live in friendship with Matt and of course will agree to lend him the money.”

  Then Matt was given a gold pen inlaid with precious stones, and he added:

  Your Royal Majesties,

  I defeated you and demanded no reparations. Now I am asking you to lend me money. So don’t be piggy about it, lend me the money.

  King Matt the First

  The Reformer

  MATT WAS INVITED to visit the foreign kings and to bring the captain, the doctor, Stash, and Helenka.

  “King Matt can be certain he will not regret it. We will do everything in our power to make sure that he has a good time and gets everything he wants.”

  Matt was terribly happy. Matt had only been in one foreign city, and that was during the war. Now he was to become acquainted with three capitals, three foreign palaces, and three royal gardens, and he was very curious to see if they were different. One capital was supposed to have a beautiful zoo with animals from all over the world. Another was supposed to have a building so high that, as Felek said, it almost reached the sky. The third capital had stores with such beautiful displays that you could look at them for a whole year and never be bored.

  The ministers were very angry that they had not been invited, but there was nothing they could do about it. The Minister of Finance just pleaded with Matt not to accept any money from the other kings or sign anything, because they would trick him.

  “You
don’t have to worry about that,” said Matt. “I didn’t let them trick me before, and I won’t now, either.”

  “Your Majesty, they’ll pretend to be your friends just as they did after the war, but they’ll always be trying to have everything their own way.”

  “As if I didn’t know that,” said Matt, but deep down he was glad to have been warned, and he decided not to sign any papers while he was outside the country. And it really did seem strange to him that none of his ministers had been invited.

  “I’ll keep an eye out,” added Matt.

  Everyone envied Matt the journey that would take him far and wide. The trunks were packed, the tailors delivered new clothes, and the shoemakers new boots. The master of ceremonies kept dashing around the palace to make sure nothing was forgotten. Helenka and Stash were bursting with happiness.

  At last, one day, two cars drove up to the palace. Matt and the captain got in one, the doctor, Helenka, and Stash in the other; and then they drove through the cheering town to the station, where the royal train and all the ministers were awaiting them.

  Matt had already ridden in the royal train once, on his way back from the war, but he had been very tired then and hadn’t been able to have a good look at everything. This time was different. Now he was traveling for pleasure, and so he didn’t have to worry about anything at all.

  After such a difficult war and so much work, he deserved a rest. Laughing with happiness, Matt told his companions how he had hidden under a blanket from the lieutenant, who was now his teacher. He told them about the soup, the flea bites, and about seeing the Minister of War while standing on a ladder against a cow shed and looking at the train he was riding in now.

  “We once spent a whole day there,” said Matt. “And we left for home from this station, too!”

  The royal train was composed of six cars. The first car was a sleeper. Everyone had his own compartment with a comfortable bed, a washstand, and a little table and chair. The second car was the dining car, which had a table, chairs, a beautiful carpet on the floor, and flowers everywhere. The third car was the library car, which, besides books, contained the king’s best toys. The fourth car was the kitchen car; the fifth carried the palace servants, the cook and the footmen; and the sixth was the baggage car, where all their jam-packed trunks were stored.

  The children liked to look out the windows when they weren’t playing.

  The train stopped twice when the locomotive needed water. The train gave a smooth, silent ride and did not shake at all.

  One night, everyone went to bed as usual, and the next morning, when they woke up, they were already in a foreign country.

  Matt had just finished washing and dressing when the envoy of the foreign king appeared to pay his respects. The envoy had boarded the train during the night, but he had not wanted to disturb King Matt. The envoy just kept an eye on things, since, once they crossed the border, Matt was under his protection.

  “When will I be in your king’s capital?”

  “In two hours.”

  Matt thought it was very nice that the royal envoy spoke to him in Matt’s own language, for, although Matt could now speak and understand a couple of foreign languages, it was always nicer to speak his own.

  Words cannot describe the welcome Matt was given. He entered that foreign capital not as a conqueror of cities, fortresses, and walls but as a conqueror of people’s hearts. The old gray-haired king of that kingdom was waiting for Matt at the station with his grownup children and his grand-children. The station had been decorated with so many leaves, branches, and flowers that it looked more like a beautiful garden than a train station. The branches and flowers had been woven into a sign: A WARM WELCOME TO OUR YOUNG FRIEND. There were four welcoming speeches in which Matt was called a good, kind, and valiant king. They predicted that he would rule longer than any king before him. He was offered bread and salt on a silver tray. Their highest medal, the Order of the Lion, containing an enormous diamond, was pinned to Matt’s chest. The old king kissed him so tenderly that it made Matt think of his dead parents and tears filled his eyes. There was a band and banners and an arch of triumph, and flags hanging from every balcony.

  Matt was carried on people’s shoulders to a waiting car. There were so many people on the street that it seemed as if the whole world had come to see him. The children had all been excused from school for three days, and so they were out thronging the streets.

  His own capital had never yet shown Matt a welcome like this one.

  After they drove up to the palace, a huge mob gathered in the square and wouldn’t disperse until Matt came out on the balcony.

  “Say something to us,” they cried.

  It was almost evening time when Matt finally appeared on the royal balcony.

  “I am your friend!” cried Matt.

  The cannons roared out a salute, followed by fireworks. Red, blue, and green stars showered down from the skyrockets. It was exquisite.

  Then it all started—the balls, evenings at the theater, trips outside the city where there were tall, beautiful mountains and castles set in old forests. Then came the hunt, the inspection of the troops, another gala dinner, and then back to the theater.

  The old king’s grandsons and granddaughters wanted to give Matt all their toys. His presents included two handsome horses, a little cannon made of real silver, and a new magic lantern with the most beautiful pictures.

  Then came the best thing of all: the entire court went by car to the ocean, where a mock sea battle was staged for them. Matt had his first ride on the sea, in a flagship which had been named after him.

  And so Matt was entertained for ten whole days. He would gladly have stayed longer, but he had to go see the second king.

  This was the king whom Matt had set free. This king was poorer than the first, and so he welcomed Matt more modestly but even more warmly. This king had many friends among the kings of countries that were still wild, and he had invited them, too. There were very interesting balls for Matt, attended by Africans, Chinese, and Australians. Some were yellow and wore pigtails, some were black and wore decorations made of shells and ivory in their noses and ears. Matt became friends with these kings; one of them gave him four beautiful talking parrots, another one gave him a crocodile and a boa constrictor in a huge glass cage, and another one gave him two trained monkeys who knew such funny tricks that Matt laughed every time he looked at them.

  It was in this kingdom that Matt saw the greatest zoo in the world, which had penguins that looked like people, polar bears, bisons, big Indian elephants, lions, tigers, wolves, foxes—everything, right down to the smallest creatures of land and sea. And fish and birds of every kind and color.

  “These are all presents from my African friends,” said the king.

  Matt decided to invite the Africans to his capital so he, too, could have a zoo like that. If he liked these animals so much, all the other children would, too.

  “Oh, well, I have to leave. Too bad. I wonder what the third king will show me. The huge building Felek told me about is in his capital.”

  THE THIRD KING’S reception was very modest but just as friendly. But the modesty of the reception surprised Matt a little, and he even thought it a bit unpleasant.

  Is he stingy or what? thought Matt. Even his palace doesn’t look like a castle, it’s not all that much better than a nice house.

  One footman even had slightly soiled gloves, and there was a small hole in the tablecloth which had been neatly sewn up with silk thread.

  And so Matt was all the more surprised when the king took him to his treasure room. There was so much gold, silver, and precious stones that it made Matt blink his eyes.

  “Your Royal Majesty is awfully rich.”

  “Oh, no,” said the king. “If I gave all this wealth away to the citizens of my country, they’d each only get a few copper coins.”

  And he said this so nicely that it touched Matt’s heart.

  This king was the youngest of al
l three, but he seemed sad.

  If they did not go to the theater in the evening, the king would play his violin, but so sadly that you had to sigh.

  How different the kings are, thought Matt.

  Matt said: “I heard that Your Majesty had an enormous building in your country. This one is big, very big, but it’s not enormous.”

  “Oh, that’s right. I didn’t show Your Royal Majesty the parliament building. You don’t have democracy in your country, and so I didn’t think it would interest you.”

  “But I would very much like to see that . . . that . . . parliament.”

  Matt hadn’t understood what the king had said, and again he thought: That’s strange; they teach me so much about what kings did a hundred, two hundred, even a thousand years ago, but they don’t teach me what kings are doing now and what they are like now. If I’d known them before, we might not have had a war at all.

  The king began playing his violin again, while Matt, Helenka, and Stash listened.

  “Why does Your Royal Majesty play such sad music?”

  “Because life is no fun, my friend. And a king’s life is probably the saddest of all.”

  “But,” said Matt in surprise, “the other kings are so jolly.”

  “They’re sad, too, dear Matt, they only pretend to be happy for their guests, that’s the custom, that’s what etiquette demands. How could they be jolly when they just lost the war?”

  “Oh, so that’s why Your Royal Majesty is worried.”

  “I’m the least worried of the three kings. I am even pleased.”

  “Pleased?” Matt was even more amazed.

  “Yes, because I didn’t want that war.”

  “So why did you go to war, then?”

  “I had to. There was nothing else I could do.”

  What a strange king, thought Matt. He doesn’t want to go to war but he does, and then he’s happy when he loses. A perfectly strange king.

  “It’s very dangerous to win a war,” said the king, as if talking to himself. “That can make you forget what a king is for.”

  “And what is a king for?” asked Matt naively.