The Tale of the Two Princes

I heard a preacher once preach
A sermon on two princes:

The story goes as so:
The crown prince had a list
Which, for his joy, was promised to him.
He had no expectation for the things on that list 
Prior to the King and Queen promising him the things
On that list.

The second prince,
Being far more popular among the people
For his sunny disposition,
Had nothing promised to him.
He, too, had no expectations;
And the King loved him more than the crown prince.

Thus, when Michaelmas came
The two princes were bestowed with gifts.
The crown prince, who was promised everything on his list
Was given two things from the list.
Looking for the others---
For they were semi-precious stones
Which he liked---
He became sad that the thing he was promised
Was not given to him.

The second prince---
Whom the whole kingdom loved---
Was given coal.
And the second prince said,
"Ooo! I can make this into diamonds
"If I press hard enough upon the coal."

And the whole kingdom was stunned 
That the prince who received coal
Was celebrating that he could make diamonds
From his coal. Thus, they became wary of the crown prince.

So, the King---having laid out his plan
Very carefully, to defame the crown prince
And bring honor to the second---
Took the coal from the second prince
And gave him diamonds to replace the coal.
Then, he distributed among the kingdom
How honored the second prince was
For receiving coal and doing a dance for joy.

However, the semi-precious stones
Asked for by the crown prince
Were all he asked for---
There was no other request he had
And the whole kingdom had promised him everything on his list
Down to the last sum.
And he had only received a twentieth of what he asked for.
And he wept that the promise made to him was in vain.

Thus, the crown prince absconded his crown
And gave it to the second prince
Whom, having the sunny disposition
Was happy for getting coal for Michaelmas.

Later on in life,
The crown prince grew to be a wise man
And the second prince to be a foolish man.
For, the crown prince never received aught
That he asked for.
The second prince, he received everything.
The crown prince grew strong, he grew wise
He labored on his princely duties---
Knowing that the kingdom belonged to his cousin---
While the second prince spent the riches
Obtained by the crown prince.
For the crown prince had obtained many riches
Yet the second prince ate all the riches up---
If there were even a gem able to be bought
By the crown prince's labor,
The second prince was the one who received it.

The crown prince, having worked hard
For his salary, was perplexed.
"Why did all the riches go to my cousin?"
And, lo, it was because he was the king?
So, the crown prince was saddened by this
That all of his labor was spent to feed the second prince
On his worldly lusts.
The crown prince, though,
Had time to understand what he would do with the profits.
He, happy his crown was stolen,
Will be a benefactor for the people.
This was what he set his heart to do.
For though the crown prince asked,
And did not receive aught he asked for from his kingdom;---
Rather, he was scorned when he asked
And given only a partial sum---
He was thankful that his wretched cousin
Had the crown and not him.
For, remember, he only wanted semi-precious stones;
And his cousin wanted diamonds.

Thus, the crown prince worked upon his princely duties
Peering over all wisdom, to divine a strategy
To save his kingdom from the barbarian onslaught.
The second prince, he was allied with the barbarians.
It came to, that the kingdom fell
But the crown prince escaped with his life.
For, he had accrued wisdom in his poverty---
For he was now poor, for all the sustenance he gained
Was given to his cousin---
And thus, through the roughness of his life
He attained a true knowledge
Which the second prince had not attained.
And, had he received the semi-precious stones
He may not have acceded the office he did obtain
Which was as a counselor to kings
With wisdom, honor and glory.
Though, his kingdom still hated him
He had attained to the truth which could have saved it.