The King's Great Fortune

There was, a long time ago, a small kingdom, and in that small kingdom was a prince who deemed himself just. This Prince reveled, above all else, in subjecting his people to the most peculiar trials. In his Princely youth, he enjoyed making his servants go about their chores while hopping around on one leg, or while tied to a dozen dogs by as many leashes. He often ordered his history teachers to perform their lectures without using the letters "O" and "L", or while singing them in rhyme. Once, the Prince even convinced the King, his father, to announce an edict on his behalf: for a whole week, all citizens were to halt whatever they were doing and remain perfectly still when the Prince was in sight. Seven days the Prince travelled, from morning to nightfall, in the city streets and the country roads, marvelling at the spectacle of his kingdom frozen in time, all acts interrupted in mid-course, all fields scattered with bent scarecrows, all markets silent with crowds of statues.…