There once was a haughty and mighty king who ruled fairly, but with an iron glove. So too, a general in his army grew likewise mighty and proud. Unfortunately, General Highworthy become extremely jealous of the King, soon beginning to plot his overthrow.

One night, a lowly but loyal officer, formerly only the village cobbler, overheard other officers discussing Highworthy’s dastardly plan. The cobbler became fearful of the men around him, so uncertain of their devises, he asked the King for an audience, a request that was duly granted. That meeting put an end to the traitorous plot, as well as Commander Highworthy and his co-conspirators.

“What wouldst thou desire as reward?� queried the grateful King. For good service and loyalty, the King was prepared to grant the lowly cobbler anything within reason....

“Good Sire, I ask not much, “ replied the cobbler, bending his head low to the ground. Although a man of trade, the cobbler was secretly brilliant. He’d been waiting his entire life for an opportunity such as this, so sure that if he worded his request just so, the King would never suspect his true motives and thereby grant his fervent desire with nary a hesitation or second thought.

“My lord, a humble request from a lowly servant, so that I may live my days with a small pittance of comfort,� he began.

“Yes, well, speak up, speak up,� urged the King, “I haven’t got all day.�

“Sire,� began the cobbler again, “Grant me this simple request as reward for my loyal service and ye shall not see me back in your court ever again.�

“Go on, man,� urged the King, this time very impatient. “If you don’t make this request outright, I shall make haste from my throne, your opportunity squandered.�

The cobbler quietly cleared his throat and raised his eyes from the ground. He stood erect for the first time before the great and powerful King, gazing deeply and directly into his pitch-dark eyes, searching for a sign, a flicker, a doubt signaling glitch.

“Your Majesty, I have always admired with high regard your passion and skills with chess,� began the cobbler for the third time. “Note the very lovely and ornate chess set parked on the glass table to your Majesty’s right…�

At this, the King became exceedingly leery and suspicious. The ornate chess set was a present from his devoted father, a mighty ruler in his own right who had passed when the King was a mere lad. With raised brow, he trained a keen eye on the questionable cobbler, for if he coveted his precious chess set as reward, the shoe smith would exact it only with a heavy price.

“…But please, Sire, do not misinterpret my remarks,� continued the cobbler. “I preface my request with reference to Your Majesty’s unquestionable object of beauty only as a point of reference. “

The King relaxed somewhat, but kept his dark eyes fixed on the cobbler.

Breathing deeply for strength, the shaky cobbler ventured forward. “ For you see, Sire, one as lowly as I would be well satiated and agreed to but one penny of the King’s fortune placed on the first square of this most majestic of chess sets, provided you also bestow double that square’s amount to the second square, then double that amount again to the third, and so forth, up until the sixty-fourth square of the chessboard.�

At this the King clapped his hands together so loudly, it startled those within earshot, including the trembling cobbler. He emitted a deep belly laugh, so relieved was the King that the cobbler’s request included not a pawn from the gift of his beloved father. “Such a fool,� mused the King. “Why, this knave will end up with but a few dollars of gold as reward. Then, I shall be well rid of him, the sooner the better.�

A gleam burned brightly in the cobbler’s eye as feelings of relief pervaded the courtyard. “Yes, yes, of course, my good man. The reward you request, it shall be yours,� confirmed the King.

And so, that day it was written in the ledgers of the royal scribes.

“Bring in the dancing girls! Play music!� ordered the King, “We shall amuse ourselves with song and dance as my bargain is executed by my royal attendants.�

With that, the cobbler’s ingenious plan quickly rolled into action. The mighty King, appearing somewhat distracted, directed the royal attendants to gather bags of gold. Oblivious to their actions on the chessboard, he directed his attention to the dazzling dancing girls, happy to soon be rid of the annoying cobbler and his attendant nonsense.

At first, the actions of the royal attendants produced nothing remarkable on the King’s chessboard. Square one contained only one piece of gold. Square two contained only two. But by doubling that amount, square three contained four pieces of gold, and by square twelve, two thousand forty-eight pieces of gold filled the square!

The distracted King suddenly noticed his attendants leaving the courtyard with only two rows of the chessboard filled. “Where are they going?� he demanded. “I saw them enter with more than enough gold to satisfy the cobbler’s request.�

The cobbler stood with his head bowed low to the ground, afraid to breathe loudly lest the King reconsider his gratuity and lash out in homicidal violence. This had been known to happen on more than one prior occasion.

Slowly, the King shifted his attention to the delicately carved chessboard, but could scarcely believe his own eyes. There on the twelfth square, piled high to the point of teetering, were thousands of gold pennies stacked one atop the other, the chessboard barely full, all prior squares stacked with evidence of the exponential increase. The King became noticeably furious as he realized the folly of his spontaneous agreement.

“You tricked me!� bellowed the King. “A foul trick to empty the royal coffers and make way with the bounty of a humble kingdom.�

“Nay, Sire,� begged the cobbler, “Not a foul trick in the least. Rather, a simple lesson of mathematics for you and everyone witness to our agreement. You trusted not that a single penny could compound a king’s fortune by multiplying its increase over sixty-four squares. Let every person throughout your kingdom learn the lesson of compounding interest and begin creating their own fortunes today.�

With these wise words, the King could not argue. A deal is a bargain struck fairly and alas, this deal he could not undo. Square sixty-four contained more than forty-six quadrillion golden dollars, an amount leaving the once haughty King essentially bankrupt and bereft. Nevertheless, the King was a man of honor. He had no choice but to make good on his word. He fulfilled his end of the bargain while nursing thoughts of revenge. A common swindler, he thought of the devious cobbler who would one day pay dearly for outwitting him and his beloved kingdom.

But don’t go away feeling badly. The story has a happy ending.

The ingenious cobbler had enough good sense to return a sizeable amount of the reward, thereby greatly pleasing the King who immediately granted him knighthood, a sizeable plot of fertile land, and a treasured castle in which to dwell. The sage knight married and raised a lovely family, growing fat and old from the fruits of his reward, forever a trusted advisor and loyal subject of the once again mighty, but no longer haughty, King.

The people of the kingdom learned a valuable lesson about savings and compound interest . Unlike simple interest, they not only reaped the benefits of interest on their principal savings , but also earned a likewise amount on the amount saved. Very quickly, all savings throughout the kingdom grew exponentially, allowing everyone in the kingdom to become wealthy landowners who continued to reap benefits from the sage counsel of their King’s most trusted advisor in both good times and bad.

And to this day, having passed these lessons forward, their descendants continue to live and prosper happily ever after.