Long time ago in ancient Greece, there lived a king named Midas (pronounced mahy-duh-s) who ruled the Greek kingdom of Phrygia. He was a good king and looked after his people well. King Midas had one thing peculiar about him -he loved gold. He was a rich king and had plenty of gold. His palace was made of gold. So much was his love for the shiny metal, that he even named his one and only beloved daughter ‘Marigold’! But somehow king Midas always felt he did not have enough.

Dionysus was one of the Greek God. Once it so happened that Silenus, a friend of Dionysus fell ill. Nobody wanted to help Silenus as he was  loud, ugly and ill behaved. But king Midas, gentle as he was, decided to help him in time of need. He kept Silenus in his palace as a guest for 10 days until he got better.

When Silenus returned, told about Midas’s hospitality to his good friend Dionysus. Dionysus was mighty pleased with king Midas’s kindness. He thought of rewarding him. So, he went to king Midas and told him that he wanted to grant him one wish.

Midas loved gold and thus asked for a golden touch. Dinosys was surprised at this strange wish but nevertheless made it come true. From then on, anything Midas touched turned golden. The king couldn’t have been happier. He touched many things around him to turn them sparkling golden. He did this for hours until he was hungry. When food was served, hungry Midas grabbed the bread to have a bite. But Alas! the bread turned into gold. He couldn’t eat or drink anything. To take his mind off his hunger, he decided to read a book. The moment he held his favorite book it turned into a golden showpiece. Later that evening, king’s beloved daughter came running to hug her father. Before he could stop her, she touched him and turned into a golden statue.

Midas was miserable. He realised that he shouldn’t have been greedy and should have thought deeply before making a choice. After all, each choice we make has its own consequence so, we all should make thoughtful choices. Right??

King Midas prayed to Dinosys to undo the wish. Since Midas was a good man, God Dinosys decided to undo his wish. Midas lost his golden touch and everything became how it was before it was turned to gold.