We’ve all heard the story of King Midas who was granted the power of the Midas touch. That’s where everything he touched turned to gold. At first he wanted this power and saw it as a blessing. Then he realizes it’s a curse and everything he loves must not be touched or they, too, will turn to gold.
But let’s analyze this a bit more. When he gets this power he was likely clothed. And he was touching his clothes. His clothes never changed to gold because gold is hard and wouldn’t allow him to move easily as clothing. Gold is one of the densest substances on Earth and would also weigh him down terribly.
I think it’s safe to say his clothing never turns to gold. Thus it is only his exposed hands that have the Midas touch. He could run around touching many many things that would sell for a large value if they were gold.
Then he can pay for a doctor and hospital bills. He will need to have his hands severed off or even possibly his arms to have no chance of changing a loved one into gold.
Maybe he should sever his hands in a well guarded part of the castle. Perhaps the Midas touch works after the hands have been severed and people can touch things to the hands and they too will be turned to gold. The king will be so rich, he won’t ever need real hands again.
He can use artificial limbs and maybe one day there will be robotic hands that can be wired to the brain so he can control them as he once did his real hands.
The original Midas story was a powerful moral tale. Telling this in modern times is more likely to get an expression of “Meh.”
