The King & The Horse Thief

There once was a king proud but true
Who quibbled away every farthing he ever knew
In all the kings kingdom an all the kings lands
Never was there one thing he wished for himself to keep and to have
And then there was a horse thief around who for pennies would steal horses and sell them in town
Then one day that thief, he thought an unthinkable thing
He would steal the finest white mare and sell her to the king
Surely she would bring the kings ransom and maybe even everything
When the king laid eyes on the purest white mare he gave everything he had right then and right there
And the horse thief went away rejoicing with the kings ransom in his hands
Then the king began to ponder in his heart
When I had my wealth, I could not love just one thing
But now that I have loved one thing, I have lost my ransom and with it everything
And he went away and died a forelorned and lonely old king
Then that thief started to say to himself
I can become a good person with all my wealth
So he bought a new suit, top hat, cane, and a shiny pair of shoes
And said to himself, now I will go up to church and live like good people do
When they saw him in church they began to say
Is this not the horse thief who always only will ever be someday
When they refused to believe he went away with all his riches and died in misery