Benaiah and the Magic Ring, Mary Kunz/Steven Menard

7/31/2019 Benaiah and the Magic Ring, Mary Kunz/Steven Menard

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Grandpa Ken

Reads

Old Books

1

Benaiahand the

Magic Ring


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Benaiahand the

Magic Ring

Written

Mary Kunz

Illustrations

Steven Menard

Narration

Kenneth Kunz

Produced

Kenneth Kunz

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Kenamar Corp.


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A very long time ago,

in Jerusalem,

there was a king

named Solomon.

He had the reputation

of being very wise,

but he sometimes did things

in a roundabout way.

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This, however,

is not so much a story

about King Solomon,

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as it is about his Captain

of the Kings Guard,

a loyal and dedicatedsoldier named Benaiah,

who served Solomon

with great fealty.

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One day,

King Solomon overheard

Benaiah boasting

to some

of the other soldiers

that there was

no task so difficult

that the king could give him

that

he could not accomplish.

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Now Benaiah

was not usually

a boastful man

and this disturbed

the king very much

because boasting

often breeds resentment

among others.

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I have an idea,

the king said to himself.

I will set for Benaiah

a truly impossible task.

Then he will think twice

before he brags again.

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And Solomon sent

for his captain

of the guard,

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and in a private audience

told him

of something

that he desired.

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I want to possess

a special magic ring,

and I want you

to find it for me.

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Benaiah

bowed to the king

and assured him that he,

Benaiah,

would obtain the ring.

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Solomon smiled

to himself.

The ring he was

about to describe

did not exist,

at least not as far

as he knew.

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This ring is made

of some kind of metal,

perhaps gold,

perhaps not.

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It is not necessarily

an elaborate ring,

but its magic property

is that it can instantly

make a happy person sad,

and a sad person happy.

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This ring must indeed

be a wondrous thing,

your Majesty;

If necessary,I will search

the entire world for it.

Benaiah spoke with great

confidence.

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You have six months,

Benaiah.

Do not fail me.

King Solomon

put on a solemn face.

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And Benaiah left the palace

and sped in his chariot to the marketplace,which seemed like a good place

to begin his search.


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After several days

he had talked

to every jeweler

and goldsmithin the city,

but no one had ever

heard of such a ring.

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He tried the silversmiths

and even the tinsmiths,

but

they all shook their heads

and swore they knew

of no such magic ring.

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Maybe the ring

is from a faraway land,

the last jeweler

remarked to Benaiah.

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Of course,

that must be it.

I shall haveto intercept the caravans

and ask the traders,

Benaiah thought.

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But after several months

of interviewingtraders and merchants

and even camel drivers,

no one knew of,

or even seemed

to believe in,

a magic ring

that could makea happy person sad

and a sad person happy.

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So Benaiah went down

to the seaports

and talked to dozens

of sea captains

as their ships arrived

laden with foreign goods,

but to no avail.

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Some peopleeven began to wonder

about the sanity

of the captain of the guard,

but they knew better

than to say so.

Benaiah, however,

did not need to hearthem say it.

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He wondered so himself.

He was downhearted

and depressed

because he saw that now,

for the first time,

he might fail his king.

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The day before the six months were up,

Benaiah dragged himself down to the bazaar one last time.

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Even

if it seemed hopeless

to find the ring,

he would not give up

as long as

there was still time

to search.

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He decided

to make one last tour

of the jewelry stalls,

some of which were new

after the passage

of six months.

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He walked by

a small boy in rags

who sat next

to an old rug spread

on the ground

on which were

pieces of jewelry for sale.

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Nearby stood

a poor old man

with a small pushcart.

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He was about to walk by

when the small voice

within him reminded,

Benaiah,

leave no stone unturned.

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So he stopped and looked

at the small assortment

of rings and bracelets,

some missing stones,

others broken or bent.

None looked proper.

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He sighed,

but asked nonetheless,

Do you have a ring

that possessesthe property

of being able to make

a happy person sad

and a sad person happy?

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The boy shook his head

and replied,

No,

I do not have such a ring.

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Benaiah turned his head

so the boy wouldnt see

the tears in his eyes.

It really was hopeless.

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There was

either no such ring,

or it was at the far endof the earth,

certainly not

around Jerusalem.

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He had made

such a valiant effort,

but yet felt himself

an utter failure.

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The old man,

who was probably

the boys grandfather,

considered Benaiahs

question for a moment.

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Then he stepped forward

and spoke politely.

Perhaps I can help you?

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Benaiah startedto walk away,

but the old man

came close,

but not so close

as to maybe touch

a grand courtier

of the king.

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He said respectfully,

Please, wait,

dont be so hasty.

Benaiah hesitated

but then stopped

because there was

something truly arrestingin the old mans voice.

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On the pushcartwere tools for making

and repairing jewelry.

The old man tooka very plain gold ring

out of a pouch

and proceeded to engrave

something on it.

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He held it tight

on a wooden block

and scratched on the ring

with a sharp thing

stuck in a handle

that looked to Benaiah

more like just a twig.

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When he was finished,

he offered it to Benaiah

who was about

to dismiss it

as just a trinket.

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Then he leanedinto the light

and stared at the ring.

It was just a simple ring

with some letters

scratched on it,

not many.

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But,

as he deciphered

the inscription,

he felt his sadness

of his futile search

begin to evaporate.

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He looked at the old man

and smiled knowingly,

and then he chortled.

Yes, this is the ring

Ive been searching for!

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He thrust

upon the old man

the whole purse

of gold coins.

Thanks to you,

my search is now

a resounding success!

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The old man

tried to give

much of the money

back ,

saying that the ring

was hardly worth

so much.

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But to the boys glee,

Benaiah

wouldnt hear of it.

I would have paid

anything for this ring;

he said,

Youhave certainly earned it

with your wisdom.

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The following morning,

Benaiah dressed carefully

for court

- not too flashy,

not too plain

as befitted his rank.

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He waited patientlyfor his audience

with King Solomon,

who had cases to hearand judgments to render

before he could turn

his attention to Benaiah.

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Finally,

the king decided

he had made his captain

wait long enough.

After he admits

that he could not

accomplish his mission,

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I will acknowledgeit was an impossible task,

but that I did it

to give him a lesson

in humility,

the king thought

to himself with a smile,

almost a smirk.

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Benaiah bowed deeply

before he presented

the ring to King Solomon

in a small lacquer box.

The king

opened the box

and took out the ring.

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What? A trinket!

But as he read

the inscription,

the smile drained

from his face.

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He looked around

at the splendor

of his palace,

the platters of plenty

and the throng

of loyal courtiers.

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Just then,

in a breathless moment,

he realized that someday,

maybe soon,

it would all be gone.

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And thathe would be gone,

too!

He felt indescribablydownhearted

and, alas,

very very sad.

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Through tearful eye,

he stared again

at the inscription

on the golden band

in his hand.

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It consistedof just three

Hebrew letters:

gimmel, zayin and yud,

which stand for

Gam Zeh Yaavor.

This too shall pass.

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King Solomon

gradually realized that

this very same message,

though,

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could bring comfort

to someone stricken

with grief

or suffering injustice,

just as it had broughtdeep melancholy to him.

The present sadness,

too,shall pass.

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There was no question

that this was the ring

he had asked for,

but expecting

never to get.

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He embraced the loyal

captain of his guard

and in a most

unkingly manner

beseeched his forgiveness.

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I should

never have tested you,

nor doubted you,

the king said to Benaiah.

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Then he took off

his jeweled gold ringand gave it to Benaiah.

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Trembling,

he slid the magic ring

on his own finger.

And there it stayed

for the rest of his life.

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The king surely cycledthrough many periods

of happiness and sadness,

as do we all.

But he was

much heartened

by knowing that:

This too shall pass.

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Benaiah and the Magic Ring, Mary Kunz/Steven Menard

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