Once upon a time, there lived a cruel king in the city of Singayn (you know he’s cruel for he lacked a shadow). For years, he has ruled over his people with iron fists and words of Law, and everyone was afraid of him.

One night as he dozed, there was a soft, but insistent, scraping on his window. The king, a light sleeper, woke up after the first three, and got angry. He called on the lights and summoned his courtesan.

“What is that noise?” he roared. The courtesan went to the window, and told the king what she saw.
“They’re just the branches of some trees, your Highness.”
“How dare they disturb me!” the king raged.
“They do not mean it, my lord. They are plants, moved to wave by the Northwind. they have no awareness.”

The king pondered upon this for a while, and finally said, “There well, I have thought of a fitting punishment.”
The courtesan looked at him.
“For their crimes against the king, I will sentence them to consciousness.”

And the trees have never stopped scraping the king’s window ever since.