The Fussy Princess

Far away and long ago there lived a beautiful princess called Morvella and she had a lover; a young knight called Sir Paladon and, one day, Sir Paladon asked her, as he was kneeling before her,“Dearest Morvella. Sweetest Morvella. Morvella who art as radiant as all the moon and stars. Ask me for anything; some rare and unobtainable thing and I shall lay it at your feet”.

And so, after pondering for some time, the princess replied, “I have heard that, across the shimmering sea and on the other side of the terrible forest , at the top of the mountain of Gigantus
is a tower guarded by a giant mouse, a giant cat and a giant dog, at the top of which is a magic potter with a golden potter’s wheel who makes the most beautiful vases in the world. I would very much like one of those vases”.

“Anything for you, my dearest Morvella”, said the brave Sir Paladon, bowing and then the knight got on his pure-white horse and rode to the edge of the shimmering sea and swam across to the land where the terrible forest grew and battled his way through the terrible forest and climbed up to the top of the mountain of Gigantus and went to the tower that was guarded by a giant mouse, a giant cat and a giant dog; fought the giant mouse; fought the giant cat and the giant dog then climbed
up to the very top of the tower even though it was more than a hundred feet high and got the magic
potter to make him one of the most beautiful vases in the world.

But, when he rode all the way back home as swiftly as he could and, kneeling before his fair Morvella
once more, presented her with her vase, one of the most beautiful vases in the world, Morvella
looked at it and said, “Oh but brave Sir Paladon. It is far too small to put flowers in. Could you not go back and get another taller one? One as tall as a long stemmed rose?”.

And so, brave Sir Paladon, though he was weary from his long journey bowed before the lovely Princess Morvella and saying, “Anything for you, my dearest Morvella”, he rode off again on his pure white horse and rode again to the edge of the shimmering sea and swam again across to the land where the terrible forest grew and battled his way again through the terrible forest and climbed up again to the top of the mountain of Gigantus and went again to the tower that was guarded by a giant mouse, a giant cat and a giant dog; fought the giant mouse again; fought the giant cat again and the giant dog then climbed, again, up to the very top of the tower even though it was more than a hundred feet high and got the magic potter to make him another of the most beautiful vases in the world; one much taller than the last.

But, when he rode all the way back home as swiftly as he could and, kneeling before his fair Morvella once more, presented her with another vase, one of the most beautiful vases in the world, but taller than the last one, Morvella looked at it and said, “Oh but brave Sir Paladon. It really is the wrong colour. I have just had my chambers decorated in bright yellow and orange and I want a vase that matches. Could you go back and get another one, just as tall but bright yellow and orange?”.

And so, sighing deeply, brave Sir Paladon, though he was weary from his two long journeys bowed before the lovely Princess Morvella and saying, “Anything for you, my dearest Morvella”, he rode off a third time on his pure white horse and rode a third time to the edge of the shimmering sea and swam a third time across to the land where the terrible forest grew and battled his way a third time through the terrible forest and climbed up a third time to the top of the mountain of Gigantus and went a third time to the tower that was guarded by a giant mouse, a giant cat and a giant dog; fought the giant mouse a third time; fought the giant cat a third time and the giant dog then climbed, a third time, up to the very top of the tower even though it was more than a hundred feet high and got the magic potter to make him yet another of the most beautiful vases in the world; one just as tall as the last but painted bright orange and yellow.

But, when he rode all the way back home as swiftly as he could and, kneeling before his fair Morvella
once more, presented her with yet another vase, one of the most beautiful vases in the world, just as tall as the last one but bright orange and yellow, Morvella looked at it and said, “Oh but brave Sir Paladon. This doesn’t have any handles and I really wanted one with handles”.

By now, however, Sir Paladon was very tired indeed and quite a bit annoyed. He had never noticed before just how fussy the princess was and so, to teach the princess a lesson, he picked her up and, throwing her over his shoulder he rode off a fourth time on his pure white horse and rode a fourth time to the edge of the shimmering sea and swam a fourth time across to the land where the terrible forest grew and battled his way a fourth time through the terrible forest and climbed up a fourth time to the top of the mountain of Gigantus and went a fourth time to the tower that was guarded by a giant mouse, a giant cat and a giant dog; fought the giant mouse a fourth time; fought the giant cat a fourth time and the giant dog then climbed, a fourth time, up to the very top of the tower even though it was more than a hundred feet high but, this time, when he got to the little room at the top of the tower where the magic potter sat infront of his magic golden potters wheel,
he threw the princess inside and locked the door.

“And there you shall stay until the potter has made a vase that satisfies you”, he told her.

But, sadly for the fussy Morvella, no matter how many vases the magic potter made, every time
he handed her one she would always find something wrong with it and, to this day, the poor princess has never found a vase that satisfies her and is still locked up in that tower.