Solomon's Prisoner

Long ago, King Solomon ordered for one of his ministers to be arrested and thrown in prison with the common inmates.
"But why?", asked the Minister when he was arrested, "What have I done? I have committed no crime".
"The king says that he will reveal everything to you later", replied the captain of the guards as he was led away.
But days past as the minister languished in his prison cell and though, every day, he asked the guard outside, "Any news from the king?", no news came.
And after more than a week had passed the Minister decided that Solomon must be mad and cruel and that is why he had locked him up for no reason.
Then, instead of hoping that his freedom would be restored, he accepted his life as a prisoner and started to talk with the other inmates who had been there longer than him.
And what he learned from them about the miseries of life in prison opened his eyes that had been long blinkered by priviledge.
"I had never known just how inhumane our prisons are", he thought to himself, "If only I were not a prisoner but minister again I would do something to improve them and help rehabilitate the criminals inside".
But then, after a month had past, to the ministers astonishment, suddenly a prison guard entered his cell and told him that Solomon had said he was free to go.
And so the Minister returned to the palace and he begged the king to explain to him why he had been locked up in prison when he had committed no crime.
"Because", said Solomon, "I wished to make you Minister for Prisons but I didn't want yet another minister who had never seen the inside of a prison or had never felt the hopeless misery of the incarcerated man".
"I see", said the minister, everything becoming clear to him.
"And your time in prison has surely given you some opinions upon how our prisons can be improved has it not?", said Solomon.
"Yes", said the minister smiling and, thanking the king he praised him for his wisdom and immediately set about making Solomons prisons the most humane and fairest of the ancient world.