One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition.  The
friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had
apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns,
for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb
was blown off.

Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, “This is good!”

To which the king replied, “No this is NOT good!” and proceeded to send
his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have
known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their
village. They tied him to a stake surrounded by wood.

As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king had
but one thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less
than whole. They untied the king and sent him away.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his
thumb and felt so very badly about his treatment of his friend. He went
immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. “You were right”  he
said, “it was good that my thumb was blown off.” And he proceeded to tell
the friend all that had just happened. “And so I am very sorry for
sending you to jail for so long.  It was bad for me to do
this.”

“No,” his friend replied,  “this is good!”

“What do you mean, ‘this is good’! How could it be good that I sent you,
my good friend, to jail for all this time?”

“If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you – and eaten!”