No Journey is a Wasted Journey

A traveller from a distant land is walking through the grounds of an overgrown kingdom when he comes across an old king weeping by a well.
"What causes you such sorrow? asks the traveller, kneeling next to the disenchanted man.
The king lifts up his head, revealing his dented crown tangled up in his grey hair. "I have searched my whole life for treasure, he says. "I have crossed the seven seas, climbed the highest mountains, scoured the deserts and beaten back the forests. And now, after all these years of searching, I return to my kingdom and find this¦ He moves aside to reveal a casket buried in the wall of the well. "I learned of it while walking along the Great Wall in China. A monk, who had worked in these very grounds, knew of its presence.
"Well then, says the traveller. "Why weep now that you have found your gold?
"Because, says the old king, "I have spent years searching for this treasure, only to find that it here in the very well from which I drank everyday!
The traveller is about to take his leave of the broken man when the king asks, "And you, what treasure is it that you seek, friend?
"Today, says the traveller, "I just want to find an inn where I can fill my belly and rest my head.
"Then sir, says the king, "you are heading in the wrong direction. For that way, back down the road from which you have just come and around to the right, there is such a place.
"But this way, says the traveller, "I've heard is very beautiful.
"That it is, says the king, "but it will take you many more hours to reach your destination, for the path simply takes you round the mountain side and back to the road again.
"Well, thank you, says the traveller. "But I think I will continue this way. And as the king watches the traveller ignore his advice and take the track up and around the mountainside, he recalls the powerful magnificence of the seas he has crossed, the sublime grandeur of the mountains he has conquered, the barren beauty of the deserts he has traversed, and the magical wonder of the forests he has explored. And he begins to laugh.