Latest / Sandman Stories Presents / EP 324: Jugoslavia- The Laughing Prince (Fillmore)

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EP 324: Jugoslavia- The Laughing Prince (Fillmore) · Sandman Stories Presents

0:28
Welcome back listeners to Sandman's Story Presents, a
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folklore podcast where I read you to sleep or until the next.
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Story I'm your host, Dustin, and if you want more Sandman.
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That is too spicy. For the main feed, come on over
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to the Patreon. Sandman Stories after Dark.
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And there's things that I can't read on the main pod in there.
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It's a bit spicy. OK, and today we are starting a
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new book to replace the ones that I've finished.
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This is a book of Yugoslavian folklore.
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Written down by Parker Fillmore and we are starting off with the
1:00
title. Story of this book.
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The laughing Prince OK, let's begin the laughing Prince there
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was once a farmer who had three sons and a little.
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Daughter, the oldest. Son was a studious boy who
1:15
learned so much from books. That the farmer said.
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We must send. Mikhailo to school.
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And make a priest of him. The second boy was a traitor,
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whatever you had. He would get it from you by
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offering something else for it, and always.
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What he gave you. Was worth less than what you
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gave him. Yaakov will make a fine.
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Peddler, the farmer, said. He's industrious and sharp, and
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someday he will probably be a rich man.
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But Stephen, the farmer's youngest son, had no special
1:45
talent. And because he didn't spend all
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his time with his nose in a book, and because he never made
1:50
the best of a bargain, his brother scorned him.
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Militia, his little sister. Loved him dearly, for he was
1:57
kind and jolly, and in the evening.
2:00
He was always ready to tell her stories and play with.
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Her, but the farmer, of course. Listened to the older brothers.
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I don't know about. Poor Stefan, He.
2:10
Used to say. He's a good.
2:12
Boy, but he talks nonsense. I suppose he'll have to stay on
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the farm and work. Now the truth is the farm is a
2:20
fine. Place for Stephen.
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For he was strong and lusty. And he liked to.
2:24
Plow and harvest. And he had a wonderful way with
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the animals. He talked to them as if they
2:29
were human beings. And the horses all whinnied and
2:32
came near, and the cows rubbed their soft.
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Noses against his shoulder. And As for the pigs, they loved
2:38
him so much that whenever they saw him, they used to run
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squealing between his legs. Stephen is nothing but a farmer,
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Mihailo. Used to say, as though being a
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farmer was something to be ashamed of.
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And Yaakov said. If the village people could see
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the pigs following him about, how they'd.
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Laugh at him. I hope when I go to the village
3:00
to live. He won't be visiting me all the
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time. Another thing the older brothers
3:05
couldn't understand about Stephen was why he was always
3:07
laughing and joking. He did the work of two men.
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But whether he was? Working or resting could always
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hear him cracking his merry jokes and laughing his own jolly
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laugh. I think he's foolish.
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Mokilo, said Yaakov. Hoped that the village people
3:23
wouldn't hear about his carryings on.
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They'd laugh at him, he said. And they'd laugh at.
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Us too, because we're his brothers.
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But Stephen didn't care. The more they frowned at him,
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the louder he laughed, and in spite.
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Of their dark looks. He kept on cracking his merry.
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Jokes and talking nonsense. And every evening after supper,
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his little sister Militia clapped her hands and cried.
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Now, Stephen, tell me a story. Tell me a story.
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Father Mihaela would say. You ought to make him quiet.
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He's foolish, and all he does is fill Malitza's head with
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nonsense. This always made Malitza very
4:00
indignant, and she would stamp her little foot and say he isn't
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foolish, he knows more than anyone and he can do more things
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than anyone else. And he's the handsomest brother
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in the world. You see, Malicia?
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Loves Stephen dearly. And when you love a person, of
4:16
course you think that person is wonderful.
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But father suppose that Mihailo must be right, because Mihailo
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studied in his books, So he shook his head inside every time
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that he thought of Stephen. Now the Kingdom in which the
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three. Brothers Lived was ruled over by
4:32
a great Tsar. Who had only one daughter.
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In disappointment that he had no son.
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The Tsar was having his daughter.
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Brought up as though she were a boy.
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He sent. All over the world.
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For tutors and teachers and had the poor.
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Girl taught statecraft. And lawn philosophy and all the
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other things that an heir to the throne ought to know.
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The Princess, because she was an obedient girl and because.
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She loved her father. Tried to spend all her time and
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study. But the dry old.
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Scholars whom the Tsar. Employed as teachers were not
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amusing. Companions for a young girl and
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the First Lady in waiting, who was in constant attendance, was
5:11
scarcely any better, for she too was old and thin and very prim.
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If the poor little Princess, between her geography lesson and
5:20
an arithmetic lesson, would peep for a moment into a mirror, the
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First Lady in waiting would tap her arm reprovingly and say, My
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dear, vanity is not becoming in a Princess.
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One day, the little Princess lost her temper and answered
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sharply. But I'm a girl, even if I am a
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Princess, and I love to look in mirrors, and I love to make
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myself look pretty. And I'd love to go to a ball
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every night of my life and dance with handsome young men.
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You. Talk like the daughter.
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Of the farmer, the first lady in waiting said then the Princess.
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Because she lost her temper still further.
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Said something that she should not have said.
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I wish I were the daughter. Of a farmer, she declared.
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Then I could wear pretty ribbons and go dancing as the boys all
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came courting me. As it is, I have to spend all my
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time with funny old men and silly old women now.
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Even if her tutors and teachers were funny looking old men, even
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if the First Lady in waiting was a silly old woman, the Princess
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should not have said so. It hurt the feelings of the
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First Lady in waiting and made her angry, and she ran off to
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the Czar at once to complain most bitterly.
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Is this my reward for all my years of loving?
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Service to your daughter? She asked.
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It is true that I've grown old and thin looking after her
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manners, and now she calls me a silly old woman.
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And all the learned wise men and scholars that you have gathered
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from the far corners of the earth.
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She points her finger at them and calls them funny old men.
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The fact. Is that they were.
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Funny looking, most of them, but yet the First lady in the
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waiting was right. The Princess should not have.
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Said so. And think of her ingratitude.
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To yourself, oh Czar the. First Lady in Watie continued,
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You plan to make her heir to your throne, and yet she says
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she wishes that she was a farmer's daughter so that she
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could deck herself out in ribbons and have the boys come
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courting her. A nice thing for a Princess to
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say. The Czar, when he heard this,
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fell into an awful. Rage.
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The truth is whatever. Temper the Princess had she had
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inherited directly from her father.
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Wow, wow, He. Roared just that way.
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Send me the Princess at once, I'll soon have her singing in
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another tune. So the first Lady in waiting
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sent the Princess to her father, and as soon as she saw her, he
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began roaring again and saying. Wow, wow.
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What do you mean funny old men and silly old women?
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Now whenever the Czar began roaring and saying wow wow, the
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Princess always stiffened and instead of being a sweet,
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obedient little. Daughter that she usually was,
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she. Became obstinate.
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Her pretty eyes would flash and her soft, pretty face would
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harden. And people would whisper.
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Mercy on us, How much? She looks like her.
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Father, that's just what I mean, the Princess said.
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There are a lot of funny old men and silly old woman, and I'm
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tired of them. I want to be amused.
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I want to laugh. Wow, wow, wow, roared the Tsar.
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What a fine Princess you are. Go.
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Straight back to the. School room and behave yourself.
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So the little Princess marched out of the throne room, holding
8:36
her head very high and looking so much like the.
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Tsar that the first. Lady in waiting was positively
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frightened. The Princess went back to the
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school room. But she did not behave herself.
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She was. Really very naughty when the
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poor man who knew more than anybody in the world about the
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influence of the stars upon the destinies of nations, came to
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give her a lesson. She threw his book.
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Out the window when the Super old general who was teaching her
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military maneuvers. Offered her a.
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Diagram on which was the enemy and our soldiers.
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She took the paper and tore it in two.
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And worst of all, when the old scholar was teaching her
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Turkish. For a Princess must be able to
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speak all languages. Dropped his horn spectacles on
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the floor. She deliberately stepped on them
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and broke them. When the Czar heard all these
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things, he just wow, wowed something terrible.
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Lock that young woman in a chamber.
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He ordered feed her. Bread and water until she's
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ready to apologize. But the Princess, far from being
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frightened by this treatment, calmly announced, I won't eat
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your old bread and water until you send me someone who will
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make me laugh. Now this.
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Frightened the Czar. Because he knew how obstinate
9:49
the Princess. Could be on occasions.
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He ought to know too, for the Princess had that.
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Streak of obstinacy directly. From himself.
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This will never do he. Said.
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He hurried to the princess's chamber.
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He found her in bed. With her pretty hair.
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Spread out on the pillow. Like a golden fan.
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My dear the Czar. Said I was only.
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Joking, you don't have to eat only bread and water.
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You may have anything that you want.
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Thank you, the Princess said. But I'll never.
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Eat another bite of anything until you send me someone who
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will make me laugh. I'm tired of living in this
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gloomy. Castle with a lot of.
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Old men and old woman who do nothing but instruct me, and
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with a father who always loses his temper and says.
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Wow, wow. But it's a beautiful castle, the
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poor Azar said. And I'm sure we're all doing
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our. Very best to educate you.
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But I want to be amused. As well as.
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Educated, the Princess said. And then, because she felt like
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she was going to cry, she turned her face towards the wall and
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didn't say another. Word.
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What was the? Czar to do He called together
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his counselors and asked them how to make a Princess laugh.
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The counselors were wise about state matters, but not one of
11:02
them could suggest a means to amuse the Princess.
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The master of Ceremoys did indeed begin to say something
11:09
about a nice young man, but instantly the Lazar.
11:11
Roared out. Such a wrathful wow.
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Wow, that. The master of ceremonies coughed
11:15
and pretended that he hadn't spoken.
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Then Lazar called together all the.
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Scholars and the teachers and the First Lady in waiting.
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He glared at them savagely and roared.
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Wow, wow. A nice.
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Lot you are. I put you in charge of my
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daughter, and not one of you has enough sense to know that that
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poor little child needs amusement.
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I have a good mind to have you all thrown in the dungeon, but
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your Majesty quavered 1 Poor old scholar, I was not employed as a
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buffoon, but as a. Teacher of astrology.
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And I. Another said.
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As a teacher of languages and. I as a teacher of philosophy.
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Silence, roared the Tsar between you all, you have about killed
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my poor child. Now, I ask you, with all your
12:04
learning, doesn't one of you know how to make a young girl
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laugh? Apparently not one of them did,
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for no one answered, not even you.
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The Czar said, looking at the First Lady in waiting.
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When you called me to the court, the First Lady in waiting
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answered, drawing herself. Up in the most.
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Refined matter, you said. You wished me to teach your
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daughter etiquette. As you said nothing about
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amusement, quite naturally I confined myself to the subject.
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Of behaviour. If I do say so it myself, no one
12:34
has ever been more devoted to duty than I.
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I'm constantly saying to. Her that.
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Isn't a way the Princess should act.
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In fact, for years there's hardly been a moment in the day
12:44
when I haven't corrected her for something.
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Poor child, groaned Azar. No wonder she wants a change.
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Oh, what fools you. Are in spite of all your
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learning, don't you know that a young girl is a young girl, even
13:00
if she is a Princess? Well, the scholars.
13:03
Weren't any more help. To the Tsar than the counselors.
13:06
And finally, in desperation. He sent Harolds.
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To the land to announce. That he would give 3.
13:10
Bags of gold to anyone who could make the Princess laugh. 3 bags
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of gold. Don't grow on the bushes every
13:17
day. And instantly all the youth and
13:19
men and old men who had. Stories of their sweethearts and
13:22
wives and their daughters laughed at hurried to the
13:24
castle. One by one they were admitted to
13:27
the Princess's chamber. They entered hopefully, but when
13:31
they saw the Tsar sitting on one side of the door muttering.
13:33
Wow, wow. In his beard, and the old first
13:36
lady in waiting on the other side of the door, watching them
13:38
scornfully. And the Princess?
13:39
Herself in bed with her lovely hair spread out like a golden
13:42
fan on the. Pillow they forgot their funny
13:45
stories and hemmed and hawed and stammered and finally 1 after.
13:48
The other. Had to be turned out in
13:50
disgrace. One day went by, and then two,
13:55
and then three, and still the Princess.
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Refused to eat. In despair, the Tsar sent.
14:00
Out his heralds again. This time he said that anyone
14:04
that would make the Princess laugh, he would give the
14:06
princess's hand in marriage and make them joint heir to the
14:09
Kingdom. I had expected to wed her to
14:12
the. Son of some great.
14:13
Tsar, He sighed. But I'd rather see her married
14:15
to a farmer than to see her. Die of starvation, the Heralds
14:20
rode. Far and wide until everyone,
14:22
even the people on the most distant farms.
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Had heard the tsar's offer. I won't try it again, said
14:28
Mujilo. The oldest son of the farmer
14:30
I've already told you about. When I went there the day before
14:33
yesterday, I began telling her a funny story out of my Latin
14:36
book. But instead of laughing, she
14:38
said, oh, send him away. So now she'll have to starve.
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To death. For all of me, me too, said
14:45
Yaakov, the second son, when I tried to tell her a funny story
14:48
of how I traded the moldy oats. For the old widow's fat pig.
14:52
Instead of laughing, she looked at me straight in the face and
14:54
said. Cheater.
14:56
Stephen ought to go. Machilos suggested maybe she'd
14:59
laugh. At him.
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Everybody else does. He spoke sneeringly, but Stephen
15:04
only smiled. Who knows?
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Perhaps I will go. If I do make her laugh, then my
15:09
brothers, the joke will be on you, for I shall become Tsar,
15:12
and you 2 will be known as my 2 poor.
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Brothers. Oh, what a joke that would be.
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Stephen laughed loud and heartily.
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And his little sister. Joined him.
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But his brothers looked at him sourly.
15:25
He grows more foolish all the time.
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They told each other. When they had gone to bed.
15:31
Lilita slipped over to. Stephen and whispered.
15:33
In his ear, brother. You must go to the Princess.
15:38
Tell her the. Story that begins in my young
15:41
days when I was an old old man. I think she'll just have to
15:45
laugh, and if she laughs then she can eat, and she must be
15:49
very hungry by this time. At first Stephen said no, he
15:54
wouldn't go, but Melissa finally insisted, and finally, to please
15:58
her, he said he would. So early the next morning, he
16:02
dressed himself in his fine Sunday shirt.
16:04
With its blue and red embroidery.
16:06
He put on his bright red Sunday sash and his long shiny boots.
16:11
Then he mounted his horse and before.
16:13
His brothers were awake. He rode off to the Tsar's
16:15
castle. There he waited his.
16:18
Turn to be admitted to. The Princess's chamber.
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When he came in, he was so young and healthy and vigorous.
16:24
They seemed to bring with him a little bit of the.
16:26
Freshness of the outdoors. The First lady in.
16:29
Waiting looked at him askance for without a doubt.
16:33
He was a farmer lad and his table manners were probably not
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good. Well.
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He was a farmer lad and for that reason he didn't know that she
16:40
was the first lady in waiting. He glanced over at.
16:43
Her and thought what an ugly old woman and therefore he didn't
16:47
think of her at all. He glanced likewise at the Tsar.
16:50
And the Tsar reminded him of a bull of his own.
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He wasn't. Afraid of the bull, so why be
16:55
afraid of the Tsar? Suddenly he saw the Princess
16:58
lying in bed. With her lovely hair spread out
17:01
on the pillow like a golden fan. And for a moment he couldn't
17:04
speak. Then he knelt beside the bed and
17:07
kissed her hand. Princess, he said.
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I'm not learned and I'm not clever, and I don't suppose I
17:14
can succeed where so many wise men have failed.
17:17
And even if I do make you laugh, you won't have to marry me
17:20
unless you really want to, because the reason I really came
17:23
was to please Maliza. Maliza.
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Yes, Princess. My little sister Maliza, she
17:29
loves me very much. So she thinks the stories I tell
17:32
are funny and she laughs at them.
17:35
Last night she said to me, Stephen, you must go to the
17:38
Princess and tell your story. That begins in my young days
17:41
when I was an old, old man. I think she'll.
17:44
Just have to laugh. And if she laughs, she can eat,
17:47
and she must be very hungry by this time I am, said the
17:52
Princess with a catch in her voice.
17:54
Then she added. I think I like that little.
17:57
Sister of yours. And I think I like you too.
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I wish you would tell me the. Story that begins.
18:02
In my young days, when I was an old, old man.
18:06
But Princess, it's a very. Foolish story, the foolisher the
18:11
better. Just here, the first Lady in
18:15
waiting tried to correct the Princess.
18:17
For of course she should have said the more foolish the
18:19
better, but the Tsar? Shut her down with a black frown
18:23
and one fierce. Wow.
18:26
Well, then, Stephen began. In my young days, when I was an
18:29
old, old man, I used to count my bees every morning.
18:33
It was easy enough to count the bees, but not the beehives,
18:35
because I had too many hives. One day when I finished
18:41
counting, I found that my best bee was missing at once.
18:44
I saddled a rooster and set out to find him.
18:47
Father cried the Princess. Did you hear what Stephen said?
18:51
He said he'd. Saddle his rooster.
18:54
Muttered the Tsar, and the First Lady in rating said severely.
18:58
Princess, do not interrupt, young man, continue.
19:03
His track led to the sea, which I rode across on a bridge.
19:06
The first thing I saw on the other side of the sea was my
19:09
bee. There he was, in a field of
19:10
Millet harnessed to a plow. That's my bee, I shouted to the
19:15
man who was driving him. Is that so?
19:18
The man said, and without any words he gave me back my bee and
19:21
hand me a bag of Millet. To pay for the.
19:23
Plowing, I took the bag and tied it securely on the bee.
19:27
Then I unsettled the rooster and mounted the bee.
19:30
The rooster, poor thing, was so tired that I had to take him by
19:33
the hand and lead him along. Beside us, Father.
19:37
The Princess cried. Did you?
19:38
Hear that he took the rooster by the.
19:41
Hand, isn't that funny? Grunted the Czar.
19:45
And the First Lady in waiting whispered.
19:48
Hush, let the. Young man finish while we were
19:52
crossing. The bridge.
19:53
The string of the bag broke and all my millets.
19:56
Spilled out. When night came.
19:58
I tied the rooster to the bee. And lay down on the.
20:00
Seashore to sleep. During the night some wolves
20:04
came and killed my bee, and when I woke up I found that all the
20:07
honey had run out of his body. There was so much honey that it
20:11
rose. Up, up, up.
20:13
Until it reached the ankles of the valleys and the knees of the
20:16
mountains, I took a hatchet and swam down.
20:19
To a forest where. I found 2 deer leaping about in
20:22
one leg. I shot at the.
20:24
Deer with my hatchet and killed them and skinned them with the
20:28
skins I made 2. Leather bottles.
20:30
I filled these with honey and strap them over the Roosters
20:32
back. Then I rode home, and no sooner
20:35
had I arrived at home than my father was born.
20:40
We must have holy water for the christening, I said.
20:43
I suppose I must go to heaven to fetch some.
20:45
But how was I to get there? I thought of the Millet.
20:49
Sure enough, the dampness had made it.
20:50
Grow so well. That its tops now reach the sky,
20:54
so all I. Had to do was.
20:55
Climb a Millet stalk and there I was in heaven.
20:58
Up there they had mowed down some of my Millet that they were
21:01
baking into a loaf, and they were eating with boiled milk.
21:04
That's my Millet. I said.
21:06
What do you want for it? They asked me I want some holy
21:09
water to christen my father who has just been born.
21:12
So they gave me some holy water and I prepared to descend to
21:15
earth again. But on Earth, there was a.
21:18
Violent storm going on and the wind carried away my Millet.
21:23
So there I was. With no way of getting down, I
21:25
thought of my hair. It was so long that when I stood
21:29
up it covered my ears, and when I lay down I reached all the way
21:33
down to earth. So I pulled out a hair, tied it
21:37
to a tree of heaven. And began descending by it.
21:40
When it grew dark, I made a knot in the hair and just sat there.
21:43
Where I was, I was. Cold.
21:46
So I took a needle which happened to be in my.
21:48
Coat split it up and lit a fire with the chips.
21:52
Oh, Father. The Princess cried.
21:54
Stephen says. He split a needle into kindling
21:56
wood. Isn't he funny, if you ask me?
22:00
The First Lady in waiting began. But before she could say.
22:04
More. The Tsar reached over and
22:05
stepped on her toe so hard that she was forced.
22:07
To end her sentence. With a little squealy Ouch.
22:11
The Princess, you see, was smiling, and the Tsar was hoping
22:14
that presently. She would burst into.
22:16
A laugh, so he motioned Stefan to continue.
22:20
Then I lay down beside the fire and fell asleep.
22:23
While I slept a spark. From the fire fell through onto
22:26
the hair and burned it. Through I fell to the earth with
22:29
such force that I. Sank into the ground up to my
22:31
chest. I couldn't budget, so I was
22:33
forced to go home and get a spade to dig myself out.
22:37
On the way home, I crossed a. Field where the Reapers.
22:39
Were cutting corn. The heat was so great that they
22:42
had to stop work. I'll get our mare.
22:45
I said. And then you'll feel cooler, you
22:48
know? Our mare is 2 days long and as
22:50
broad as midnight and she has Willow trees growing on her
22:53
back. So I ran and got her and she.
22:56
Cast such a cool shadow that the Reapers were.
22:58
At once able. To get back to work.
23:01
Now they wanted some fresh drinking water, but when they
23:04
had went to the river they had found.
23:05
It frozen over. They came back to me and asked
23:08
me if I could get them some water.
23:10
Certainly, I said. I went to the river myself.
23:14
Then I took off my head, and with it I broke a hole in the
23:16
ice. After that it was easy enough to
23:19
fetch them some water. But where's your head?
23:22
They asked. Oh, I said.
23:24
I must have forgotten it. Oh, Father.
23:27
The Princess cried with a loud laugh.
23:30
When he says he had forgotten his head, then Stephen, what did
23:33
you do? What did you do?
23:36
I ran back. To the river.
23:37
And got there just as a fox. Was sniffing at my skull.
23:40
Hi there, I said. Pulling the Fox's tail, the fox
23:44
turned around and gave me a paper on which.
23:46
Was written these words. Now the Princess can eat, for
23:50
she has laughed, and Stephen and his little sister.
23:53
Are very happy. What nonsense.
23:57
The First Lady in waiting. Murmured with a toss of her
23:59
head. Yes.
24:01
Beautiful nonsense, the Princess.
24:02
Cried, clapping her hands. And going off into peel after
24:05
peel of merry laughter. Isn't it beautiful nonsense,
24:09
father? And isn't Stephen a dear lad?
24:12
And father, I'm awfully hungry. Please have some food sent at
24:15
once. And Stephen must stay and eat
24:17
with me. So the Czar brought in great.
24:21
Trays of food roast birds and vegetables.
24:24
And wheat bread, and many kinds of little cakes, and honey and
24:27
milk and fruit, and Stephen and the Princess ate and made merry,
24:31
and Lazar joined them, And even the first lady in waiting took
24:34
one little cake. She crumbled into her
24:36
handkerchief in a most refined manner.
24:40
Then Stephen. Rose to go and.
24:41
Lazar said to him, Stephen. I will.
24:44
Reward you richly. You have made the Princess.
24:47
Laugh and besides. You have not insisted on her
24:50
marrying you. You are a fine lad and I shall
24:52
never forget you. But father, the Princess said, I
24:57
don't want Stephen to go. He amuses me and I like him.
25:01
He said I needn't marry him unless I wanted to.
25:03
But Father, I think I want. To wow, Wow.
25:09
The Czar roared. What?
25:12
My daughter marry the son of a farmer now, father, the Princess
25:16
said. It's no use.
25:18
You're wow wowing at me and you know it isn't.
25:21
If I can't marry Stephen, then I won't marry anyone, and if I
25:24
don't marry anyone, I'm going to stop eating again.
25:27
So that's that. And still holding Stephen's
25:30
hand, the Princess turned her face.
25:31
To the Wall. What could the poor Azar do?
25:35
At first? He.
25:36
Fumed and raged. But as usual, a day or two.
25:40
Later he came around to the princess's way of thinking.
25:43
In fact, it soon seemed to him that Stephen had been his.
25:46
Choice from the first. And one of one of his counselors
25:49
remarked, Then, your Majesty, there's no use in sending word
25:53
to the neighboring kings that the Princess has reached a
25:56
marriageable age and would like to look over their sons.
25:59
The Sarah flew into an awful temper and roared.
26:02
Wow, wow you. Blockhead neighboring kings
26:06
indeed, and they're good for nothing.
26:08
Sons. No, Sir Ree, the husband I want
26:10
for my daughter is an honest farmer lad who knows how to
26:12
work. And how to play?
26:14
That's the kind of son-in-law we need in this Kingdom.
26:18
So Stephen and the Princess were married, and from that day the
26:21
castle was no longer gloomy, but rang with laughter and
26:23
merriment. Presently, the people of the
26:26
Kingdom following the examples. Of their rulers were.
26:29
Laughing too, and cracking jokes.
26:30
And strange to say, they soon found that they were working all
26:33
the. Better for their jollity.
26:35
Laughter grew so fashionable. That even Mihailo and Yaakov
26:37
were forced. To take it up.
26:40
They didn't do it very well. But they practiced at.
26:42
It conscientiously, Whenever people talked about Stephen,
26:47
they always pushed forward importantly and said.
26:50
Ho ho ho. You mean Stephen the Laughing
26:52
Prince? Ha ha ha, why do you know he's
26:55
our own brother? As for Melissa, the Princess had
27:00
her come to the castle and said to her, I owe all my happiness
27:03
to you, my dear, for it was you who knew that of.
27:07
Course. I would laugh at Stephen's
27:09
nonsense. What sensible girl wouldn't?
27:13
The. End.
27:39
Well, that is a heck of a way to start a book.
27:42
I love this story and this playfulness.
27:46
I've seen a few. Stories like this in Korean
27:48
folklore that I'm going. To get started on.
27:50
And I hope you're enjoying this new book and.
27:52
There are only 13 stories. In here, so I'll be doing some
27:55
Russian stories after that. And the podcast shout out is to
27:58
Nuzzle House, Glenn and Gertie Read.
28:00
Funny or odd or? Just wild public domain stories.
28:04
Go and give them a listen. They're great.
28:06
And the listener shout. Out is to the city of Limburg in
28:08
Germany. I don't have firm plans to visit
28:10
the old country. But if I do go there, I would
28:13
love to see the. House der Zieben laster.
28:16
Also known as the House of the Seven Vices, it has seven.
28:19
Deadly sins carved into it. And so I say to my listener in
28:22
Limburg, Don Koshun Ung Kuttenak, thank you and good
28:27
night.