I meet my twelve friends in an underground palace, and we dine together at a long table. Then we raise a glass, and we each make a toast to the health of our mothers and fathers.

When I raise my glass, I make a different kind of toast.

A health to my dearest lady.

Long may she live, and well!

But a curse on the cruel mother

That burnt my golden shell!

I have been separated from my lady, and we are both ill and grieving. It is all because of her mother who could not accept me as I am.

The Crab Prince in The Golden Crab, Yellow Fairy Book. Painting by Leonardo da Vinci.