I spotted this in a review by the critic Terry Eagleton:

Bertolt Brecht tells the tale of a king in the East who was pained by all the suffering in the world. So he called his wise men together and asked them to inquire into its cause. The wise men duly looked into the matter, and returned with the news that the cause of the world’s suffering was the king.

The review is of The Frontman: Bono (In Name of Power), by Harry Browne. The image is from Wikimedia Commons, and is used with thanks.