He had always loved cycling around his pretty little town
With the sea breeze so violent that it sometimes blew away his crown
For, you see, Karl was the king of Honningsvag, small as it may be
And owned every bit of land there, as far as eye could see
He loved cycling, and he loved his subjects, but one thing he loved even more
Shoes were not just his passion, but his obsession, or so goes the lore
From Irish Brogues to Crocs and even Kolhapuri Chappals, he hoarded them all
And when a visiting dignitary arrived from some exotic foreign land, it was his shoes that held Karl in the greatest thrall
But it so happened that the kingdom faced a very severe drought
For years and years, there was no rain, and people had to really suffer a lot
Karl emptied the coffers of his palace, and bought food and water from other lands
And every evening, he came outside his palace, and gave it all away with his very own hands
But still, it was not enough, the foreigner traders demanded even more money for supplies
Karl was distraught, for there was neither money nor gold, and he couldn’t bear his hungry people’s cries
So he called them for a meeting, and got down on his knees
And begged them to feed his people and let go of their fees
But the traders were hard-boiled specimens, they simply refused, and told the king
There is still a large treasure left, you’ve not really given us everything
The king was confused, and said- There’s no gold left in the coffers, I’m not playing a ruse
And the traders replied- Your biggest treasure is still with you, O king, your spectacular collection of exquisite shoes
The king was horrified, it was like taking a child away from his parent, or even worse
But he could see no avenue of escape in front of him, there was just nothing else left in his purse
So he bade his shoes goodbye, aware that he would never see them again
The tears in his eyes were just a small reflection of his deep, tremendous pain
And as the first tear fell to the ground, so did the first drop of rain
For the Gods could take it no more, they could not let Karl’s sacrifice go in vain
It rained hard, like the Gods themselves were crying, it rained like it’d never rained before
And barefoot, Karl cycled his way to the top of the hill, till his feet got blistered and sore
And there he still stands, with a broken heart, but proudly standing tall
Looking over his land, and his people, whom he loved above all
And since that fateful day, no citizen of the town has ever worn shoes, they just put them up on the wall as decoration
In memory of a king who sacrificed the one thing he loved the most in this world, so that he could save his nation
jagahdilmein 