The story of the Fisher King

"Did you ever hear the story
of the Fisher King?

 
                 
Begins with the king as a boy
having to sleep alone...

 
                 
...in the forest to prove
his courage so he can become king.

 
                 
While he's spending
the night alone...

...he's visited by a sacred vision.

 
                 
Out of the fire
appears the Holy Grail...

 
                 
...symbol of God's divine grace.

 
                 
A voice said to him,
"You shall be keeper of the Grail...

 
                 
...so that it may heal


the hearts of men."

But the boy was blinded by
greater visions of a life...

 
                 
...filled with power
and glory and beauty.

 
                 
And in this state
of radical amazement...

 
                 
...he felt for a brief moment,
not like a boy...

 
                 
...but invincible.

 
                 
So he reached in the fire
to take the Grail...

 
                 
...and the Grail vanished...

 
                 
...leaving him with his hand
in the fire to be terribly wounded.

 
                 
Now, as this boy grew older...

 
                 
...his wound grew deeper.

 
                 
Until one day...

 
                 
...life for him lost its reason.

                 
He had no faith in any men,
not even himself.

 
                 
He couldn't love...

 
                 
...or feel loved.
He was sick with experience.

 
                 
He began to die.

 
                 
One day, a fool wandered
into the castle...

 
                 
                
...and found the king alone.

 
                 
And being a fool, he was simple-minded.
He didn't see a king.

 
                 
He only saw a man alone...

 
                 
...and in pain.

 
                 
And he asked the king,
"What ails you, friend?"

 
                 
And the king replied:

 
                 
" I'm thirsty and I need some water

                 
So the fool took a cup from beside
his bed, filled it with water...

 
                 
...and handed it to the king.

 
                 
And as the king began to drink...

 
                 
...he realized his wound was healed.

 
                 
He looked and there was
the Holy Grail...

 
                 
...that which he sought
all of his life.

 
                 
" How could you find that which
my brightest and bravest could not?"

 
                 
The fool replied:

 
                 
" I don't know.

 
                 
I only knew that you were thirsty."

 
                 
It's very beautiful."

By Terry Gilliam,Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams