Once upon a time, in a faraway land, was a wonderful village where everybody was free. The village was proud to be filled with all different kinds of people. Some people had dark skin and some had light skin, and they believed in all different kinds of things. All of these people were happy in the village, because everybody was free to believe what he or she wanted, and everybody was free to speak his or her mind without fear of oppression or censorship. The village of Murka was by no means perfect, but it was a wonderful place, nonetheless, and the people who lived there were proud to be called Murkans.
Murka was such a diverse place that there was even a troll living within its walls. He wasn't ugly, this
troll. If anything, he was fairly average looking (for a troll, that is), except for a shock of oddly reddish hair that looked as out of place on his head as it would have on any man's. What really stood out about this troll wasn't his looks, or even his hair, but his mean spirit. He said awful, hurtful, angry things. He used horrible words like ugly and fat and stupid: words that even little children knew they weren't supposed to say. He was so mean, in fact, that the children had taken to calling him the Grump. The name was so fitting that even the adults adopted it, and pretty soon this troll was known around the village as Mr. Grump.
To the north of Murka was a village where people were especially nice and warm, despite the cold climate in which they lived. To the south was another village where many of the people were poor and often struggled just to survive. Some had it so bad that would brave the difficult and deadly journey to Murka, simply for the opportunity to provide a better life for themselves and their loved ones. They would find jobs in Murka doing things that most Murkans felt were beneath them, and were happy just to have the opportunity to work.
It soon came to pass in the village of Murka that it was time to elect a new king, the old king having served his purpose and preparing to step down. Many came to apply for the position, but most surprising among all the candidates was Mr. Grump himself. At first the villagers thought it was a joke, and nobody thought that he had a chance of winning. After all, he was just a mean ogre that people tolerated and sometimes found amusing.
The ogre began to campaign in much the way that he had lived. He said terrible things about anyone he didn't like, and called the other candidates awful names—even the ones who believed the same things he did. A few people began to like him, confusing his hatred with honesty. He had tapped into their anger. Thankfully, anger wasn't enough, and most of the villagers still didn't take him seriously.
Then the mean ogre started saying even more awful things. He told everybody that the people who came from the village to the south were dangerous, that they brought drugs and crime into Murka, that they were rapists, and that they should be kicked out. He also said that all of the people with really long toes were dangerous, simply because a few people with really long toes were doing awful, violent things around the world. Mr. Grump said that they shouldn't let any more people with long toes come into the village, even the ones running away from the people doing the awful, violent things.
Many of the villagers were stunned, but more and more began to listen. They weren't bad people, the ones who listened, they were just scared. But fear is a dangerous emotion, and a contagious one at that. More and more people began to support Mr. Grump, and when election day came around, the most awful thing happened: Mr. Grump was elected as the new king.
The first thing King Grump did was to have his men go around and gather up the people from the village to the south. They led them to the town square where the ogre stood waiting patiently, and as they arrived he picked them up, one by one, and threw them over the village walls to the south, as easily as if he was tossing a pebble into a pond. Next, he had his men round up the people with exceptionally long toes. He made them write their names on a long scroll that he promised to post on the castle doors so that everyone would know who they were. Some of the people refused to write their names in the scroll, and these people he picked up and tossed over the walls to the north. Thankfully, the neighboring village had anticipated this and had built nets to catch the people, welcoming them with open arms.
Just then, a little girl from the village ran out of the crowd and stood in front of the ogre and his men and yelled, "Stop!" quite loudly. Everybody stopped. They were surprised to see such defiance from such a small child. Her face was set in anger, but her eyes were bright and full of love. "This isn't right," she said to the men who were doing King Grump's bidding. "These people haven't done anything wrong, and you know it. I know you're not bad people; you're just scared. It's okay to be scared. We're all scared sometimes. But it's when we're most afraid that we have the chance to be the most brave. It's not too late to be brave. You can still stand up to Mr. Grump.
"And you," she said, turning to the ogre, "you're just a mean old Grump. You're shouldn't go around bullying people and saying mean things to people. And you shouldn't go around scaring everybody into agreeing with you. It's not nice." With that, the little girl walked away, disappearing into the crowd of people who had gathered at the town square to watch.
Now I'd love to tell you that everybody listened to that little girl. I'd love to tell you that they took King Grump's crown away and gave it somebody else who deserved it more, and that they all started to love one another again and lived happily ever after. Sadly, this isn't that kind of fairy tale.
Instead, King Grump kept throwing people he didn't like out of the village. Some people left of their own accord, choosing to live in other villages where they could once again speak their minds and believe what they wanted to. Meanwhile, King Grump threw out all the people he was afraid would defy him, and all the people who spoke out against him. Eventually, he threw out anyone who had ever disagreed with him, and then the people he just didn't like. Pretty soon he ran out of people to throw out, and King Trump looked around and realized that there was no one left in the village but himself. He was finally alone.
The rest of the world went happily on, choosing to ignore Murka and it's mean, lonely tyrant king. Eventually, the tale of Murka became a cautionary one, known throughout the lands, of how easily fear can turn people into monsters and make them say and do things they would never have imagined. It was the tale of how fear tore apart the world's greatest village. And parents to this day warn their children, "Whatever you do, don't listen to the Grump."
