"Treasure of Kings" is a Polish folk tale.

Once upon a time in a village near Cracow, Poland, there lived a rabbi whose name was Yitzhak. He was the son of a famous man, Reb Yekel, whom all the people of his village had loved for his wisdom.

When Reb Yekel died, the whole village mourned, and Rabbi Yitzhak made certain to follow in his father's footsteps. He was wise and fair, just as his father had been. And like his father, he also was generous. He never turned away anyone in need, and because so many people came to him for help, before long he lost all his worldly possessions.

Rabbi Yitzhak cared nothing for things. He wanted only to be a good man, and that he was. As time passed, though, he grew poorer and poorer, and he began to wish for just one thing: enough money to build a synagogue for his people.

One night Rabbi Yitzhak dreamed that he was in the beautiful city of Prague, standing beside a bridge that led to the king's palace. Beneath the bridge he saw a hole, and in that hole was a bag brimming with gold.

"Ah, how lovely it would be to have that bag of gold," the rabbi thought, and even in his dream he laughed as he imagined digging up the treasure of kings.

After having the same dream three nights in a row, the rabbi understood that it was a prophecy. He was meant to find the treasure of kings.

He departed for Prague, without a thought for the hardship of such a long journey.

He walked for many days, and his old shoes were nearly worn through by the time he reached Prague. Before long he found the bridge of his dream, and just as he had seen in his dream, the bridge led to the palace. His heart pounded with hope.

But there was one thing that was different. This bridge had no hole beneath it, and it was guarded day and night by dozens of guards. The rabbi could never dig a hole without being discovered, and so he did not dig. Instead he walked back and forth across the bridge, day after day. He returned each day, and as he walked, he gazed below, dreaming of the treasure of kings.

One day a guard spotted the rabbi gazing wistfully beneath the bridge.

"I see you standing here each day," the guard said. "You seem to be waiting for something. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Rabbi Yitzhak solemnly shook his head. "It is kind of you to ask," he said to the guard. "I have walked all the way here from Cracow, for I dreamed that beneath this bridge there was a treasure of gold."

The guard burst out laughing. "Ah, so that is why your shoes are worn through. But what a fool you are. I too have dreamed of treasure. Once I dreamed that there was a treasure of kings beneath a stove in a village near Cracow. It was owned by a fellow named Yitzhak, son of a man named Yekel. Can you imagine if I'd gone to Cracow and asked for such a man? Everyone would have laughed at me."

Rabbi Yitzhak only smiled when he heard of this man's dream. "So you do not believe in the wisdom of dreams?" he asked.

"I believe only what I see," the guard said. "That which I can see I know is real."

And then Rabbi Yitzhak turned and walked back home. When he reached his house after his journey, he dug a hole beneath his stove, and there, in plain sight, lay the treasure just as the guard had seen it, a treasure of dreams.