That's What I Call a Compliment: A Hasidic Parable by MC Complete

 There once was a commoner transporting a lot of heavy packs on his donkey. Suddendly the donkey stumbled and all the packs fell off. Oh no, thought the commoner. It will take forever to reload this donkey. Just then, he saw his friend running over to help him. Together, they were able to reload the donkey in half the time. The commoner was so grateful to his friend. "You're the king," he said.

The next day, the commoner went to a show where a musician was playing the harp. The music was so beautiful and so skillfully played that it almost brought the commoner to tears. After the show, the commoner ran up to the musician. "You're the king!" he said.

The next day, the commoner went to pick up a shirt from the tailor. He couldn't believe his eyes. It looked as good as new. "You're the king!" he said to the tailor.

The next day, the palace guards grabbed him and dragged him to the throne room. "What did I do?" he asked the king.

"Nothing," said the king. "I just want you to sing my praises."

"But I can't sing," said the commoner.

The king rolled his eyes. "You don't need to sing," said the king. "Just say something nice about me."

"You're the king!" said the commoner.

"Excuse me?" said the king.

"I said, you're the king."

"Off with his head," said the king.

"What?" said the commoner. "What did I do?"

"Obviously I'm the king," said the king. "That's not a compliment, that's just stating a fact."

The executioner was summoned. The guards put the commoner's neck on the chopping block. The executioner raised his axe. "Wait, wait!" said the king.

"What now?" said the executioner.

"This idiot deserves to die," said the king. "But I'm going to let him go home."

"Home?" said the executioner. "You're not even going to like throw him in the dungeon or something?"

"You heard me," said the king.

The executioner shrugged. "You're the king," he said.

The commoner fell to his knees and bowed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he said. "You truly are a merciful king!"

The king smiled. "Now that's what I call a compliment," he said.