The King and the Corpse-The Monkey

The King represents that ego we know, the one that makes up our conscious attitude towards the world. This ego is in on autopilot mode that eventually becomes bored or unsettled. It takes the king ten years in the story to come to the realization that all the gifts he has been given by life he has thrown away not understanding their true value. Sometimes this can take a lot longer, maybe even 50 years. It is important to take note that it was the monkey that revealed to him the value in the fruit and the monkey resides in the female quarters. This is the unconscious parts of us, the lunar side, the realm of the feminine, the feeling function which most men repress most of their lives. Now the king's realization there is value here he had previously ignored seems an easy transition, perhaps because this is an Indian tale and Indians are much more in touch with their feeling function. In the west this would manifest as a complaint, depression, anxiety because the ego would resist such new knowledge. Or the person would act out in an affair or something that would force his stance with the world to change (once caught). The king feels indebted to the peasant who brought the fruit once he realized their value. This indebtedness we all experience when we come to the same realization often late in life that we have taken advantage of life all our lives and that it's real meaning was right in front of us. The peasant turns out to be something more than a peasant just as the fruit turned out to be something more than fruit. The peasant is actually a holy man, an ascetic, and the king offers the holy man a favor. The holy man requests the king as hero assist him in an enterpise of magic. The holy man's name is "Rich in Patience" which is quite befitting him. This is that part of us that intiates us into the realm of the imagination, the magical realm and he can wait many years before he is listened to.