the Lonely Prince

    Far away, in a little kingdom by the sea, lived a very handsome, very lonely prince. This lonely prince was always in a melancholy mood, and was never happy.
    His father, the king, didn’t like to see his son so upset, however, he was also worried that such a negative person would make a terrible ruler, and there was no one else to take his place once he was gone. So, the King decreed that the woman, whoever she may be, who could make his son happy, would marry his son, and rule beside him as queen.
    This excited many people throughout the kingdom, for many women in the kingdom had aspirations to become queen, and this was finally their chance. Many mothers and fathers in the kingdom were sure that their daughter would make the prince happy, and bring all kinds of good titles to the family name. As it was, many women attempted to please the prince, but none of them shared the same interests as the prince, and most simply pushed him further into boredom.
    And when many ladies had been sent home in disappointment, the king asked his son, ‘Son, why is it so difficult to please you? Many ladies have come to try and bring joy to you, but you have sent them all away? Why?’ ‘Because all the ladies are so very simple, and they only care for themselves,’ replied the lonely prince. “You are much too hard to satisfy. If you stay this way, you will never become king, and the kingdom will fall to ruin,’ the father told his son. He left him with these words, and the prince thought them over for a while.
    Soon, the women in the kingdom had given up hope of making the prince happy. However, one woman had been told by everyone she knew that she was too much involved in her thoughts and ideas, and that she needed to be more like a lady. But when all the other ladies in the kingdom had been turned down, she decided that she may have good luck trying to entertain the prince. So, she set out for the castle, with a gift of fruit from her farm for the king and his family.
    When she arrived, the king was surprised to see someone asking for a chance to make the prince happy, and one with a gift, at that! He thanked her for her generosity, and sent her up to see the prince. She spoke to him for hours and hours, which was much longer that any of the other women had been there. When the king went into the prince’s room, to make sure that there had been no foul play, he was very surprised to see his son smiling and laughing as he talked with the woman. “It is amazing!” gasped the king. “You, fair lady, have brought joy to my son, the prince!”
    True to his word, the woman and the prince were married. A few years afterward, the king died, and the prince and his wife ruled justly over the kingdom for many, many years.

THE END