The story of Clumsy Hans, to be read right before bedtime. If it's not that time, you may come back when it is, or rebelling against petty rules is also appreciated:Once upon a time, there was a princess who decided to marry the man who had the most to say for himself. Two brothers who were a little too sure of their abilities set out to woo her, so that one of them might be the chosen one. A third brother, who was sure of himself in a whole other way, set out to win the princess as well. This third brother started without advantages (he had a goat rather than the fine horses of his brothers), and collected seemingly useless objects on his journey to the castle - a dead crow, a broken wooden shoe, and pockets full of mud. There's no way he could have won the princess.
Except in a fairy tale. He had perfect luck and timing, and his resources were just what was needed, or could be presented that way. The other brothers were forgotten, our anti-hero got the girl, erm, princess, they eventually became king and queen and lived presumably happily ever after.
That Princess. If only modern princesses were married in this way...what work for the tabloids! Would you agree to choose your future King or Queen by public interview? If so, what one quality would you be looking for in all your suitors?
That Hans. Working with what he has, and without inhibition. And it works. How do you do this in your life? What treasures do you carry around with you, to use for winning that princess or prince (or job, or house, or whatever else is in your line of desire)?
Those other brothers: Were they given a bum rap, weeded out unfairly by the selection process? And for that matter, what about all the impressive people in line after Hans?
Answers on a post-it note or blog comment, please.
And, for those who took my suggestion seriously, goodnight and sweet dreams.
11 kommentarer:
Since the job of royal person is sort of a public job, I suppose it isn't totally unreasonable to expect some public vetting of your potential mate. I think it'd be one way of making a feudal institution work in a n open society. I'm not saying it wouldn't suck or it's particularly dignified. I think you have the choice of being private and accepting a diminished role of the institution, or retaining pomp and living your life in public. No middle ground for our idiot brother and his faire princess.
Okay, good night...see ya!
(devil mood walks away to go to sleep)...
Oh, you kill me with those philosophical questions!!
I think the princess had the right to her privacy and to choose according to her criteria, so she chose well. What would I demand of my candidates? Lots of patience and a special ability to be there and not be there at the same time...hard to explain. :)
What treasures do I carry around with me? My imagination and my common sense, two things that when you think about it are somehow paradoxical.
(I'm not thinking about your e-mail after this, I need to rest! lol)
i wouldn't pick one person just yet. i'd keep them hanging on for a while. a princess should have the utmost luxury that is time. pressing dilemmas should be for mortals.
ONE quality?
oh sooo hard...
a postive attitude in particular
when things go wrong -
sigh...
if more are allowed...
curiousity, a sense of poetry,
a sense of humor, loving,
intelligent and
kind.
Mmmm, a lad has to know how to speak for himself. I'd have to sit back, and let myself be seduced by his verbal ability in the moment...
if he speaks of literature and art I would be done!
...is that your cross stitch?
Novel
Greg, good points. I chose the private life, blog notwithstanding.
Ms. Mood, I think I can see the whole being there and not being there at the same time thing. Could be wrong, of course, but yeah. My Prince has that, and it's one of the nicest things about him.
Chloe, that is exactly it!
Sophie, you're allowed as many as you'd like. :-)
Ms. Nymph, it is a wonderful thing to be seduced by verbal ability, is it not? And it is indeed my cross stitch...just a tiny part of a larger sampler, the rest of which will form many a blogging bedtime story to come.
I'm glad you understand and that your Prince is like that. I don't want someone that suffocates me, that's what I meant. But, at the same time, don't leave me! lol
question 1: would I agree to choose a future spouse by public interview? Sure. If they won't admit publicly to wanting to get nasty with my mutant ass, they aren't worth it.
2) What quality would I be looking for? Morbid sense of humor
3) How do I work without inhibition in my own life? with a smirk and a snarky remark, generally.
4) what treasures do I carry around with me? Sunglasses, lighter, Leatherman, cigarettes, ipod.
4) were the other brothers treated unfairly? Nope! Her Royal Princessyness was clearlya fter a man with ingenuity, with good ol'fashioned cunning and fast-talking skills, a bullshit artist extraordinaire. The clean shaven conventional brothers lost because they were too conventional, and thusly unsuitable for someone so unconventional as to be ruling by self-proclaimed divine right.
5) What about all the impressive people in line after Hans? Two points on my answer here. Point 1: Fuck em. they can't be bothered to get in line early, they clearly aren't THAT interested in marrying the princess. point 2: Princes, consorts, and other royals tend to drop like flies, and Hans has clearly pissed a lot of people off, possibly including his father-in-law, so odds are good there will be a second test after the appropriate period of mourning
I haven't got any one quality to share. I just thought about this fairy-tale, remembered that I've been punished in the same way as the brothers (as good as): they had grooves (? stripes?) cut in their back, then salt strewn in the wounds. After I had the quads by c-section, the operation wound wouldn't grow, so they opened it again, and treated the wound with, yes, salt, to keep it clean. Eventually it worked, but it is just sooo painful... I'd rather have had 4 births ala Jakob's instead. But hey, the kids are fine, and so am I :)
Sorry for digressing, I just hadn't thought about it in a long time...
Hitler on a horse?
goat.on a goat.
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