In plain words
The Large-Hearted King and Queen
There was a king and a queen who were very good; ruling their people like their own children, they brought them to great prosperity. One day, as the queen was oiling the king's hair for his bath, she shed tears. Seeing this in the mirror in front of him, the king asked, “Queen, why are you crying?” She said, “Your hair is turning grey. This is the very first call of God to you. The second call is the dimming of the eyes. The third call is the falling of the teeth, the fourth call the wrinkling of the body. The very first call from God has already come to you: that is why I felt sorrow.” The king was a great jñānī. “Queen! What you have said is the truth. I had not recognised this at all till now. Tomorrow itself I shall go to the forest and begin tapas,” he said. The next day he went to the forest and began tapas. But it was not that death should not come to him; he wished to behold divinity while the body still lasted. Pleased with his tapas, Nārāyaṇa appeared before him and asked, “King! What do you want?” “Swami! Your presence itself is my treasure. I need nothing but Your grace. But I have one small wish. All the people of my country must live a full hundred years. All must enjoy comforts and riches equally. There must be no distinction of poor and rich,” he asked.
Then Nārāyaṇa: “King! Your wish is a very noble one indeed! But in creation it is not possible to keep all equal. In this world duality has to remain!” he said. But as the king insisted that his wish be granted, Nārāyaṇa had no choice but to agree. By the time the king came back to his kingdom, wherever he looked he saw great big mansions. No one was going about on foot. All were going in vehicles. All the roads were full of rubbish. Nowhere was there a sweeper to be seen. When he reached his palace, there were not even guards to be seen outside. At once he called the queen: “Why are all the streets in the city so dirty? You could send for the sweepers and have them cleaned, could you not!” he said. Then she: “Maharaja! For the last few days the sweepers have not been coming.