I had begun making up tales when Snowylass start badgering me to tell her stories.
It began when I couldn't easily find enough "good" books from the library. Then it continued during the car rides or while waiting for mummy to run errands as we wait in the car.
Of late, she's been wanting stories about princesses, nice stories she said, without the "bad parts". I am still trying to find ways to show her that the "bad parts" were vital ingredients to making the stories interesting and worth listening to.
Snowylady told me I should record some of these stories. So here is a blog for jotting down some of the stories I told.
Princesses for Snowylass ... I wonder what Snowylad would ask for himself in time to come ...
This was made up during our end-Nov 2007 holiday in Hong Kong. It was in the Disney Hotel, evening after dinner. Snowylass wanted a story with the following elements: king, queen, prince, princess and palace.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the original version told was much rougher than this, but accompanied by actions.
The Mountain Royals and the Sea Royals
Once upon a time, there were two neighbouring kingdoms. One was the Mountain Kingdom, ruled by the Mountain King, whose wife was the Mountain Queen. They had two children, the Mountain Prince and the Mountain Princess. And of course, they lived in the Mountain Royal Palace.
The other was the Sea Kingdom, or rather, the Kingdom by the Sea. There was the Royal Palace by the Sea where the Sea King, Sea Queen, Sea Prince and Sea Princess lived.
One day, a royal visit was arranged for the whole Mountain Royal family to visit the Sea Royal family. There was a long procession of carriages for the Mountain Royals were accompanied by many servants, bearing many gifts for their host. Though the two kingdoms were neighbours, it was the first time that there was a royal visit from either side, and the Sea Kingdom citizens turned up in droves to watch the procession.
Arriving at the Royal Palace by the Sea, the procession was received with full honours, as the Sea Royals waited. Mountain King and Mountain Prince dismounted from their steeds, while the Mountain Queen and Princess alighted from their carriage.
At this juncture, I changed the story so that the Mountain Princess also dismounted from a horse, just to indicate to Snowylass that princesses can ride horses too, and not just carriages like Cinderella. We were in Disneyland Hotel and had been visiting Disneyland Park, a definite lack of role model for horse-riding warrior princesses. Mulan was there, but not on a horse.
The Sea King and Queen immediately welcomed their guests, and brought them in to a welcoming banquet. The Sea Princess welcomed the Mountain Princess, and as neither were shy, they started chatting together and soon became like old friends.
At the Royal Banquet, the two Kings and two Queens fell into conversation, asking about each other and each other's households. The Princesses had begun talking and exchanging some fashion tips and accessories. The Sea Princess showed her guest some fine pearls from the local bay, while the Mountain Princess showed her hostess a few pieces of brilliant gemstones from the mines of the mountain.
Neither prince were present initially. The Mountain Prince was in charge of the Royal Retinue, and had to see to the unpacking and settling of the servants from the Mountain Kingdom. The Sea Prince was in charge showing them their quarters and seeing to their needs.
In the Banquet Hall, the two Kings had began talking about their respective sons, whom they were proud of, with good reasons. The Mountain King talked about his son being a fine outdoors man. The Sea King mentioned what a wonderful sailor, swimmer and diver his son was. To that, the Mountain King in an almost casual tone remarked that his son did a fair share of swimming and diving in the lakes and rivers too.
Slowly, but steadily, the tone became more and more competitive, and almost gone were all restraint and subtlety that were expected. The two queens tried unsuccessfully to nip the problem in the bud, but gave up after a while, deciding to let their husbands learn a lesson after making fools of themselves.
Just when the tensions were running high, both princes entered the Banquet Hall, having tended to their duties. The Sea King was mentioning that swimming in the placid lakes were nothing compared to the sea and the Mountain King immediately said he would get his son to swim right away in the sea, to show that a mountain man could handle himself in the sea as well as anywhere else.
Both kings ag
Good story!
ReplyDeletecopyright? ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminder.
ReplyDeleteUhm, just realised perhaps you meant your question in another way ... but aren't Ben and Jonathan a tad too old for such stories?
ReplyDeleteOnly real problem I have with this story.. where's the bad guy?
ReplyDeleteI try not to make them too obvious ...
ReplyDeleteseriously... I can't find them... maybe one of the fishermen?
ReplyDeletehey ya but I do have do-rei-me nephews and nieces.
ReplyDeleteMoon, you can use the story in a story-telling sessions for your nephews and nieces if you like, even adapt it according to the situation.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a great story, snowy. ;-)
ReplyDelete