When I wanted something, I had to have it, and if I couldn’t have it, I became very upset. When I first saw the portrait of the princess Desiree, I wanted her to be my wife and no other wife would do. I refused to go through with my father’s arrangements...
I am a landmark in this country. People can see me from miles away. A high and mighty princess inhabits my high apartments, and she can see the whole kingdom through my twelve windows. Through the first window she can see more clearly than any human being, in every...
I didn’t last a month when I apprenticed with Master Pfriem. My advice is: stay away from that shoemaker! He’s that short, grey-haired fellow you see moving through the crowd with his arms wheeling round as if he were rowing a boat. You know the man. The...
“I am mighty Mercurius! Whoever releases me, him I must strangle!” Idiot! Why did I say that to the fellow? I do not seem to be able to curb my own bravado. Then, to make it worse, I had to prove myself! “Ha! You don’t believe that a genius...
I brushed my pretty feelers and looked at the creature my brother had caught. Yuk. He wanted to marry her, the idiot! How could he possibly be attracted to her? She had no feelers at all! And only two legs! She looked like a human—the worst! Horrible! All the lady...
I came to the emperor in a parcel labeled Nightingale. I am a mechanical bird who looks and sounds exactly like the real one—with several important improvements. Unlike the dull, dun-colored nightingale, I am set all over with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, and,...
I had great power, more power than any mere king. I owned all the land around my castle for as far as the eye could see. One day I had a visit from a strange-looking Cat who wore a large pair of boots and had a bag strapped around his neck. He was very well-spoken so...
I am as tall as a tower and I eat people the way a monkey eats chestnuts. I talk so loud that anyone who listens becomes deaf. What GREATER prince could there be? If that golden-haired princess does not marry me, I’ll lay waste to her country, carry her off, and...
I have all the power in the world, but I still can’t get my way!! To hell with this “ring of truth” that pricks my finger whenever I do a bad thing. I want to marry that shepherdess, with or without her consent! And if she continues to refuse me,...
Listen, your Majesty. You’re a king. You want to marry that resistant shepherdess? Keep her in prison and feed her bread and water. Then see if she continues to refuse you. If she does, have her head cut off. You’ve got to start teaching people to respect...
