Publisher's Synopsis
Once upon a time, so long ago that I have quite forgotten the date, there lived a king andqueen who had no children.And the king said to himself, "All the queens of my acquaintance have children, some three, some seven, and some as many as twelve; and my queen has not one. I feel ill-used." So hemade up his mind to be cross with his wife about it. But she bore it all like a good patientqueen as she was. Then the king grew very cross indeed. But the queen pretended to take itall as a joke, and a very good one too."Why don't you have any daughters, at least?" said he. "I don't say sons; that might be toomuch to expect.""I am sure, dear king, I am very sorry," said the queen."So you ought to be," retorted the king; "you are not going to make a virtue of that, surely."But he was not an ill-tempered king, and in any matter of less moment would have let thequeen have her own way with all his heart. This, however, was an affair of state
