2. Why does the king tell his story to be the boy before leaving? What relevance does it have to your life and Santiago’s?

A shopkeeper's son ventured through the desert for forty days and finally reached the castle from which his father told him to visit the old wise man. The wise man told the boy to carry the spoonful of oil throughout his house and to not spill it. When the boy returned, the wise man asked him if he noticed his house; the boy replied that he didn't. The wise man told him to take the spoon with him again and look around. When the boy returned a second time, this time he spilled the oil. The man then tells the boy that to discover the beautiful paintings of happiness in the world and to not forget about the oil in the spoon.
The King of Salem doesn't want the boy to forget about the importance of it, and not forgetting that observations of life are needed as well. Just like the sheperd thought to himself: "A sheperd may like to travel, but he should never forget about his sheep." The quote means that the sheperd should enjoy his life by traveling, but to not forget about the sheep who are his best friends; they rely on each other for the nessecities of life. You should also be trustworthy and never lie about your mistakes in life. You have to be responsible in life, and that's what the king is reminding the boy. Don't always thnk about yourself; always have other people in your life, it's all about the essence of happiness in life. The story tells me that there's so much to life that you shouldn't throw it all away and be selfish to yourself and other people. It also says that it's all about making who you are happy from the inside and out. To keep everything balanced. To Santiago it's about his friends, his sheep. It's not all about traveling the world, it's also to protect and nurture the sheep he once bought long ago.