Unfair

The old king clung to his throne, but would not lift a finger to protect his kingdom. That was unfair.

The village scorned the poor farm boy. He had nothing and no one thought he would amount to anything. Grossly unfair.

A dragon descended upon the village and slaughtered its sheep, and their livelihood. Starvation is Unfair.

The dragon returned and killed the farm boy’s family, leaving him utterly alone in the world. Tragic and unfair.

Homeless and penniless, the boy knew little of swords, less of dragons, and precious little of anything else. He had no money, no training, and no reason to believe he could succeed. But the old king would not act, and no one else seemed willing to.

The Moment of Decision – he decides to act, to go on a quest – which is both unrealistic, unreasonable and unfair

Lost and starving in the mountains, he stumbled upon a hermit’s cottage. This hermit was the greatest wizard in a thousand years, a man whose exploits generations of philosophers still discussed. For a hundred years he had lived in those mountains, and never once had he come looking for anyone. But the farm boy asked to become his apprentice. To his surprise, the wizard agrees to teach the boy magic. Unfair! Even kings and emperors would have given their right arms for such a privilege.

A nymph of the mountain lake gave the boy a magic sword. Greater swordsmen than he had sought that blade for hundreds of years. With it, he faced the dragon, slew it, and fashioned a magnificent magic cloak from its hide. Unfair Advantage!

The village that had scorned him now welcomed him as its greatest hero and raised a statue in his honor. They sang songs that exaggerated his accomplishments a thousand-fold, with sincerity and love. Unfair Glory!

He took the throne from the dithering king. He recovered the dragon’s hoard, became fabulously wealthy, married seven beautiful wives, and ruled his kingdom with perfect justice.

This was Unfair!!! A little farm boy from a backwater village had slain a dragon, won a fortune, and become king. What fairness was there in that?

But there are greater things than fairness.

And the farm-boy king was not complaining.