TALES FROM THE SNOW MOUNTAIN


( This was not intended to be a series but it is has turned out to be one. Each can be read independently but it may be interesting to read the others so. There are essentially Four main charactiers; Father, Mother and two sons. One of the sons is the writer in the family though the pen many be wielded occasionally by others. They all reside on the Snow Mountain, the abode of the Gods)




(1) MY MOTHER IS TAKING A BATH
A son's encounter with a trespasser

I want to tell you about my mother. She is the best mother one can have. I know your mother is the best one, but still…

She has gone for a bath . She asked me to watch the space and don’t let anybody in. I sat at the door for some time. Got bored. Now I have come near my mother’s pet poodle. Hey puppy, puppy. My mother laughs when I call it puppy. She says you are crazy. You know why? Because it is actually a lion. My mother keeps several lions. This is her pet lion. She told me that it was born the same day as she was. Yeah, she brought it along with her when she got married.

My mother is very fair. Her father lived on a mountain, And so did her mother. He is actually a king. I don’t know why he lived on a mountain. That too an icy mountain ! This is why my mother does not like heat. Even now she is taking bath inside with only cold water.

I think one of the reasons she got married to my father was because he also lives on a mountain. I asked her once about her marriage. Did they know each other before marriage ? Yeah, she smiled . She said not know-know. I did not understand and asked her again. She said she had heard about him and he had heard about her. And she liked him , He also liked her. Is that all , I asked . She said with a smile . What else ?

I have not seen my father, He was not at home when I was born. My mother says that he is not at home most of the time. I asked her to describe him to me. She blushed and said very handsome. And what else ? He keeps a snake with him. Big Deal. You keep a lion and he keeps a snake ! May be that is why you like each other. She again said Snake, ugh ! Mother, do not make a big issue of it. And what else ? She said he likes ash. Ash ? Yes, he smears his whole body with ash. I said that may be it is one way to keep oneself from cold. Anything else ? She said enough for now, more later. And then she said that he has very bad temper. You mean he gets angry . Yes, very angry !

My mother never gets angry. At least , not with me. I am

getting bored, She is taking a really long bath today. I will tell you what else we have at home. You already know about the lions. We have a big bull . Yes, bull and that too a big one. I do not know what it does. I asked my mother about it. She told me that my father sometimes uses it to go around. I laughed. I did not know whether this old bull could even move, let alone go anywhere with somebody seated on it ! She asked me not to make fun of the bull. She said your father really likes it. I wondered about my family. Father on a bull, Mother on a lion. God alone knows what vehicle I will get when I grow up ?

Then I heard a noise. A loud noise. Somebody is coming up the mountain. He is going near the house. He did not even look at me. But I ran as fast as I could and planted myself in front of the door. The person looked at me and said that he wants to go in. I told him that he cannot go inside the house.

He started talking to me in a loud voice. Do you know who I am ? I said Sir, I do not know who you are. It really does not matter who you are. You just cannot go in.

Why should not I go in ? Because my mother, the Lady of the House, is taking a bath. And she has asked me not to let anybody in . He was slowly getting angry. I could see it in his eyes. He repeated ‘ Kid, do you know who I am ‘. I said, ‘ Sir, it does not matter to me ’. He shouted ‘ I am her husband , I looked at him. He was wearing a snake. He had ash all over him.. And he was handsome in some strange way. But He needed a bath alright.

I said ‘ May be, May be not ! But I wont let you in ‘. My mother had told me not to let anybody in. ANYBODY ! She had not said Let your father in but not others. He was now really angry. He said ‘ You have to let me in, Otherwise I will go in by force’. I said ‘ Sir, what force ? I am just doing my duty. I simply cannot let you in ‘. He was trembling with anger. He took his sword and threatened me . I told him that my mother wont like this when she comes to know about it.

He said You adamant kid and the sword came down on my neck. As my head was leaving my body I saw my half clad mother come out with a scream,,,



(2) A RACE BETWEEN BROTHERS

I do not know whether my brother is older than me. My father does not say anything but my mother says he is older. It seems when he was born he was looked after by six women and later they left the baby at the bottom of the mountain. My father is fond of him. My mother is fond of me. My brother makes fun of me saying Momma’s boy ! So what ? He is like father. He gets angry soon. I am like my mother . Very calm.

My brother is always bragging. He is so macho ! I can lift more weights than you. I can run faster than you. I agree with him but he just does not stop. He will say things like my vehicle is better than your vehicle. The mention of my vehicle always raises arguments in our house. My mother does not like my vehicle . She keeps saying it has come to kitchen. Take it away. My father looks at it and just laughs. And my brother! His vehicle is always trying to catch my vehicle. I do not really know how I got my vehicle. As I said earlier, my father’s vehicle is a bull and my mother ‘s is a lion. And my brother has a peacock. How did I end up with a mouse ? Just to cheer myself up I call it my steed ! The mouse also likes it.





One morning after breakfast my brother said let us race. Let us go round the universe and see who wins. I told him that I am sure he will win. He said yes, but I want to race you. And before I could say anything he flew off on his peacock . For me my parents are the universe. I will just go round them. I did my pranams to the parents and started on my journey. But my steed started crying. Please take me with you. I will run fast. I know it will slow me down but I do not want to displease my steed. So I mounted the steel and the journey was started.

From somewhere I heard my brother screaming. Look, There is this big flood on the earth and a big fish is pulling a boat with many people in it. He is giving a bird’s eye view of what is happening in the world below him . Ha!Ha! After all he is on a bird !

My brother ! He talks a lot. He can be quite funny also. Once he was telling father that his peacock was hungry. My father told him to feed it. My brother said that the peacock is looking keenly at the snake around my father’s neck. For a moment father was scared. But afterwards he got very angry .

I want to take this race seriously. I got a small whip and I goaded my precious little steed to go fast. Meanwhile my brother is chattering. His voice is clear but I can feel that the sound is weakening. Look, something has happened to the earth . Some demon is taking it away. Look, there is a big pig coming and fighting with him. Yeah, the pig is killing the demon.I have now finished half of my journey. I started from the front facing my parents. Now I can see their backs. My brother keeps on shouting. He is exuberant. See that dwarf. See how big he is becoming. Actually I can hear him better. This means he has finished half of his journey already and he has turned back. He is already ahead.

I better hurry. I have to keep singing since I do not want my steed to go to sleep. No, do not worry. I don’t sing that well to put him to sleep. All of a sudden I don’t hear my brother’s voice. I am little worried. Has he fallen off some where. And slowly I hear sounds. The sounds of sleep. Snores. Not like the loud snores of my mother. Not like the musical sounds from my mother. This is a young boy’s snore. He is sleeping !! He must be really tired. Plays hard. Sleeps hard .

I am sorry but I have to proceed. I don’t think he will even hear if I shout. I am now three fourths finished. I hear my brother again. Not very legible. He must have gotten up . May be cursing himself. I am sure he will speed up very much. I keep hearing sounds of his peacock. The sounds are coming near and near.

Finally my journey is over. I have finished my round . I got off my steed and prostrated in front of my parents. Just as I was getting up, I saw that my brother had also come back. He was huffing and puffing. I was also tired. We just sat in front of our parents. They told me that I am the winner. My brother protested saying he went all around the universe. My father told him that you went around your universe and he went around his universe. Even otherwise you could have won but what made you take a nap in the middle ? My mother rewarded me with an apple. I cut it and gave my brother the bigger piece. He was happy again and he started telling me about the Big Fish.

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Refs to flood and the fish, earth and the pig, dwarf etc denotes the passage of time at various stages of the journey

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(3) THE MUSIC OF THE DEMON KING


Today it is very quiet on the snow mountain. Mother went out sometime ago wearing a dark make up. My brother’s peacock is tired and lying down. So is the mouse. Not a squeak from it. Father is sitting in the lotus position. His eyes are closed. He is also quiet. Both my brother and I are lying down. We are also quiet. It is only my mind that is chattering.

I do not like it when my father is quiet. I like it when he dances. Like he does when my mother is not around. He is very good. Brilliant as they say. What crazy steps. And wild jumps. Just like an athlete. He tells the old bull and his other friends to play music. May be they were doing it all together before father got married. Real wild music and dance. It is as though the world is coming to an end. All of us join. The mountain itself dances .

My mother does not like this dance. She says it scares her. For her the music has to be soft. I call it syrupy. And my father joins her for the dance . A slow dance. Even the music notes do not move. My mother loves it. My father says it is alright once in a while. And sometimes when mother is not there he mimics the slow dance. It makes me and my brother laugh.

We are dozing and all of a sudden we are shaken up. As though we are thrown up and brought down. Yes, the mountain is trembling. Everybody is shaking. May be father has started his dance. I look at my father. He is very still. Just like he was sometime ago. The trembling is more and more. We are not able to stand. Father, better do something

Slowly my father’s eyes open. (Please do no task me about the third eye . Mother has not seen it. The old Bull says he has seen it. We only need a cock to verify it ! Our peacock wont do ! I think it is just one of those things people make up) . His eyes are red. And angry. He looks here and there. And then his eyes are lowered to the base of the mountain. He sees something which we don’t. And then he does a high jump. His body goes up and up. May be as much as a cocoanut tree . Then it comes down. He lands on his feet. The mountain stops shaking. There is no sound at all for sometime. Then a howl starts. A wailing howl. But after some more time the noise ceases. It becomes something nice. The’ o ‘ is kicked out and the ‘s’ is cajoled to become a ‘ c’. It is music now. Melodious. After some time, monotonous. But it is music alright . It goes on and on.



We don’t know what is happening. And we ask. He says it is that ten headed demon. He calls him a headstrong fellow. Brother innocently asks whether all the ten heads are strong. Father laughs and says yes. He is a great warrior. He has defeated everybody in the world. He wants to be sure that nobody can kill him. He has come here and wants to ask a boon. He tried to climb the mountain but I stopped him. He got angry and lifted the mountain, That is why we were all shaking. When I saw what he was dong I also got angry and did that jump.



We tell father that it was a wonderful jump. He smiles and proceeds with the demon’s story. When he jumped the demon’s hands got stuck below the mountain. And that is the reason he was howling. He can sing very well. And the howl became song. A long song.



Father says Cunning Demon. He thinks he can win me over by music ! We ask father whether the demon will get his wish fulfilled. But He is not listening to us. I had told you that Father has a big weakness for music. He is listening to the music of the demon. He is in a trance. Brother says father will give the demon whatever he wants. This is the problem with father. He is very generous.



The music finally stops. Father asks the demon to come up the mountain. He comes up and prostates in front of father. And then requests him to give a boon. Father is very happy and says I will give you whatever you want. The demon says that he should not be killed by anybody. Father says to specify. The demon says that No god, No animal, No fish, No bird should kill him. Father says alright and you can go now. Brother whispers in my ear. Why did he not say No man ? Should I remind him ? Just for once I hit him on the head and ask him to keep quiet. Demon asks for one more thing. What is it ?



I want that nice stone below that tree. Father squirms. It is not his to give. It is my mother’s property. She worships the stone everyday. I had asked her about it. She said that father does not like her bowing down to him every day. Therefore she prefers to prostate in front of that nice stone. She calls it the SOUL STONE. She also told me that she has taken father’s soul and put it inside this stone. My mother will be wild. But father has agreed to give whatever the demon wants.



He tries to dissuade the demon. Why don’t you take the old bull instead ? The old bull starts weeping. But the demon does not want the bull . He wants the Soul Stone. Father reluctantly asks the demon to take it. But cautions the demon. You should always keep it on your palm till you go to your island. If you keep it on the floor anywhere else, it will just stay put there.



The demon leaves . He is happy. He is singing. Not his earlier monotonous music. Something more joyful. As he is leaving the snow mountain, we are all very quiet. Father knows that he has done a mistake. He has gone into the quiet mode. After sometime mother comes in. Her dark makeup has gone. She tells us gleefully about her escapades as the dark lady. But we don’t laugh. We don’t smile. And father has his eyes closed. She asks us the reason. The truth slowly comes out. She is wild. I have never seen her that wild. She tells father that she does not want that stone in that demon’s island. She tells him to get the soul stone some how or…. And she goes to a corner and sits down weeping. Father is silent and looks up at the sky. I cannot take this scene. I tell them that I will see it does not reach the demon’s island.



The demon has already traveled a lot. It is morning and he is near the sea shore. He may be a valiant man but I can see that he is also tired. Holding out his palm and with the soul stone on it all the time can really be tiring. I also reach there and just follow him. He sees just a young boy following him . I ask him about his victories. He is boastful and goes on and on. I ask him Sir, Shall I take that piece of stone from you. He says No kid, I can handle it. But he is getting tired . I can see that he is also uncomfortable. I ask him again. He says that he has to pass water and he cannot do it holding on to the stone. I keep telling him that I can take care of it while he passes whatever he has to pass. He finally agrees but tells me that whatever happens I should not keep it on the ground. I say yes. He hands me the stone. It is heavy. The demon disappears saying he will be back soon. Meanwhile the stone is getting heavy . It is also dancing on my palm. May be father is dancing on the mountain again ! Anyway I don’t want to hold it at all. I am pretending to keep it, that is all. I shout Sir, please come back, it is getting heavy . When I say this I am laughing . But the demon is somewhere else. But I can hear him. Kid, Please wait. I have to pass some more water. I shout again that it is heavy. He says that he is coming back. I can also feel that he is coming back since the earth is shaking with his heavy frame. And as he is seeing me I keep the soul stone on the sands of the sea. The demon curses me. Comes to hit me. But I run away.



Mother does not need stones any more. She says I can imagine your father’s soul. And worship it. The demon must have gone back to his island cursing me throughout. I heard later that he got killed by a man. As for the soul stone, it is still there on the sea shore where I left it.

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(4) The Demon teaches the monkey to count



Do you remember the ten headed demon king who came to the Snow Mountain and went back with a boon and the soul stone ? When he was walking with me on the sea shore with the soul stone on his palm, he told me about himself including how he taught a monkey prince to count. His story was in fragments and I have tried to reconstruct it as it might really have happened :

This demon had defeated many kings and conquered their kingdoms. Wars and battles are not good for anybody. And the person who wins a war is always looking for the next war. Looking to defeat one more king. So our demon was looking for the next big fight. He was told about the great monkey king living in the big forest in the middle of the country. And how he was the greatest warrior on earth .

The demon got up in the morning . And the first thing he did was to go to the palace of the monkey king where he was told that he has gone to the east seas for his ablutions. The monkey king would fly to each sea and perform ablutions in the morning. When the demon went to the shores of the east seas, he saw the monkey king squatting on the sands and praying to the sun God. The monkey king looked very big from a distance. The demon king decided to catch him from behind and slowly tiptoed to the monkey king. The tails of some creatures , it seems, have minds of their own. In those creatures the head often does not know what the tail does. It is said that the tails of monkeys belong to that category. The monkey king had a long tail which caught hold of the demon king and it was wrapped several times around him. The demon king felt really humiliated. He could have taken it if it had been a face to face fight. This was the pinnacle of ignominy There was no way for the demon king to escape.

The monkey king got up from his prayers and took another dip in the eastern ocean. Along with the tail, the demon king was also forced to take a bath. The monkey king went from the east sea to the south sea. He prayed there and took a bath. The great monkey repeated the ablutions and the bath in the western sea and later in the northern sea. Finally the monkey king returned to his palace in the forest. By this time the demon had too many baths for a single morning

We have not told you how big these monkeys are. They are very very big. They are huge. And he was a king of these huge monkeys. The demon king was also big. But he could not be compared with the monkey king. The demon king with ten heads looked like a very small and strange creature. When he was wondering where to store this strange insect , the queen told him that their baby – the monkey prince – might love playing with it. Therefore the demon was tied to the top of the baby monkey’s cradle. Though this was just a baby this monkey prince could already recite the four Vedas. It was a very bright baby monkey. But the kid had a big deficiency. It did not know how to count. This was a big worry for both the monkey king and the monkey queen.

The baby monkey started playing with the demon. It would start tickling the demon. The demon would start laughing. This would set the baby also to giggle. And this lead to more tickles. The demon would continue to laugh. But finally he would just break down and cry.

The baby was very curious about the heads of the demon. It had not seen anybody like this demon. There were too many heads. The baby monkey also noticed that when the demon laughed they came from the heads on the left. And when he cried the tears would come only from the heads on the right.

The baby monkey continued to be perplexed by the number of heads on the demon. One day it touched the central head with its finger . And looked at the demon. The demon whispered ONE . The baby repeated . It was a musical ONE. The palace started resonating with the voice of the baby prince . Then the baby monkey touched the next head and looked at the demon king. The demon king whispered TWO. The baby monkey picked up the sound and said TWO . This sound waltzed out of the room and reached the monkey queen in the inner court and the monkey king in the outer court. Both of them rushed to the baby’s room . The baby pointed with its finger to the third head. The demon whispered THREE and the baby prince repeated after him. When they heard it the parents had tears in their eyes . And more tears fell down on the earth when the baby counted upto TEN . The baby repeated the numbers without the help of the demon. Even the demon had tears of joy when he heard the baby count again upto TEN . The parents rejoiced that the son had become a mathematician. The one single lacuna in his learning had been taken care of. The monkey king thanked the ten headed demon and he was went back to the island with lot of gifts

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It came to pass that the ten headed demon king stole a great prince’s wife. The name of the great prince was Rama , And he came to the island to fight the demon king . The baby monkey prince had grown now and was a youth of great valour and learning. He joined Rama in his fight against the demon king.

The war took place. And at the end when all the soldiers of the demon king had died, there was a long battle between the great Rama and the ten headed demon. The demon was also a great warrior and there were ups and downs throughout the battle. But at the end Rama’s arrows started cutting down the heads of the demon. The monkey prince who was looking at the great battle started counting down. TEN– NINE - EIGHT … ONE. Rama’s next arrow took off the last head of the demon . As the head of the demon was getting severed , it uttered ZERO. The education of the monkey prince was complete !

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Demon King – Ravana

Monkey King - Vali

Monkey prince – Angada

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(5) THE WRITER'S BLOCK
TALES FROM THE SNOW MOUNTAIN (5)

The discerning reader will notice that there has been a lull in the frequency of these journals from the snow mountain. This is because of the introspection thrust on me from several sources.

At first are thecritics of my journals. My brother the Peacock Rider is the one who started it all. He says that my story
has to be written from his point of view. He says it is too biased. I ask him whether he contests the facts. He says that my facts are all alright but it is my interpretation that is all wrong. I tell him that there is not much to interpret. He says he is going to write a story about it from his point of view .

He is not the only critic that I have. The animals have also joined his camp. They say they have been made fun of. The bull says he is not pleased with the adjective conferred on him and that he is only as old as my father. I told him that I was just being affectionate but it does not convince him. The other animals say that they are all good friends. The peacock says that the snake is its best friend and the snake says the mouse is its best friend. The animals insist that all the animosity between them is just in my head. So all of them want to write their own versions of these stories .

The monkey nation is up in arms. They have sent a note to the snow mountain saying that the story of the monkey prince learning counting from the demon king is an insult to the whole monkey nation. But as we all know the cradle of each baby monkey is adorned with a toy depicting an insect with ten heads. They also do not want to admit that the progress the great monkey nation has made in the field of mathematics is essentially due to this method of counting taught to the infant monkeys.

The family of the ten headed demon is also upset. They say that the demon king was actually a friend of the monkey king. They say that my father was also a good friend of the demon king and the Soul Stone was actually given by my father to him as a gift. I do not know how to please everybody.

I approach my parents with this problem. Father also criticizes me. He says that I exaggerate too much. He says that he is not all that what my stories show. He says that mother was upset becaue she thinks he mimics her dance. Mother nods her head. He says he is also not all that naïve and innocent. Motherand brother look at each other and stifle their smiles. Father says that I should learn to accept criticism. He says that I should take a break and let people tell their own stories for a change. I look at my mother. She nods her approval. My mother asks me also not to restrict myself to happenings on the snow mountain. She says that the whole wide world should be my canvas !

Another reason for my writer’s block is a strange problem I am facing these days. Others in my family also may have this problem, but let me start with the specific one I have. It was my mother who made me aware of my problem. She told me the other day that I was getting fat and that I am not getting enough exercise and that I could be eating too much. Then she asked me this nagging question. When you eat, do you eat for the elephant or for the young boy. I did not understand it first. Then I realized what she was asking me. Do I think like an elephant or do I think like a young boy ? I could not answer it immediately but the mouse, my vehicle and my sole means of transportation, told my mother that occasionally I become very heavy . And according to it whenever I think I am an elephant I become heavy. It added with all reverence that it would help it to move fast if I always thought like a young boy !

When my mother realized that I understood the question, she told me another story. She stressed that it is very relevant for the occasion. It seems her friend, the one whom she calls the Dark Lady, told her this story of one woman and two men- her husband and his friend . Something happened and they found the husband’s head on the friend’s body and vice versa.
It seems that after this incident the husband began to think like the friend etc. . So after telling me this story mother asks me the question again. Are you an elephant or are you a young boy ? She hastens to add that it does not matter to her and I will always be dear to her.
We have many similar dichotomies in our family. We all know that my mother and the dark Lady are one and the same person though my mother refers to her as her friend. And mother thinks that we do not know her secret !

My father is also an anomaly. At home he is the quiet man sitting on a stone slab with his eyes (all three ) closed. Yeah, he goes into a dance occasionally. But generally a sober man. But the snake around his neck tells its animal friends that at times he acts weird. It seems he goes into places where bodies are burnt and lets his matted hair down. I think the story is true since I have also seen ash on his body. Not just the ash he wears regularly but extra ash with some strange odour.
But the snake tells one more story which is difficult to believe. It seems at times the left half of my father’s body turns into a woman. If you ask me that is too much of a tall story. But the snake insists that it is true. Before this transformation takes place it seems my father takes off the snake from the neck and keeps it on the ground since the part which becomes the woman is afraid of snakes !
May be the only normal person in the family is my brother the peacockrider ! I guess I am not all that strange . Most of us have dual natures. It could be elephant or boy . It could be the fair mother or the dark lady. It could be the man or the woman. WE just have to learn to deal with it ! Therefore I do not have too much to worry and I can hopefully proceed with my journals



IT is ‘EPIC’ TIME ON THE MOUNTAIN….

(Tales from the SnowMountain (6 a))

There is this famous sage. Apart from being very holy, he is also a bard. It seems he has a long story in his mind. He calls the story an epic. Actually he calls it The Epic. He is looking for somebody to write it. He will dictate the story and somebody has to write it down. So he came to father to get his permission. Father asked me whether I can do it



I told the bard that there seems to be a mistake. I am a writer, yes, but not that kind of a writer, He said that my handwriting is good. May be . But I have my own stories to tell ! It is going to be totally boring to listen to an old man and write whatever he says. I whispered in my father’s ear that I cannot do it. But my father told me that it will be good for me to listen to others. He said I can improve my style. He said that my vocabulary will also grow. I think I do not want to adopt that old man’s style. It will cramp me. But my father insisted and so did the sage. I said OK but I will do it under one condition. The bard has to keep on dictating so that I keep on writing. If he pauses I will stop this whole thing. After all, how long can this old man keep talking? I wanted this to end fast. The sage agreed but put his own condition. He said that I have to understand all that he says and only then put it to writing. Big Deal ! I agreed. And I have started writing somebody else’s book .





I told the sage that I will write only in the day time. The sage also wanted a respite and has agreed. We have given him a hut at the base of the mountain. He comes up In the morning and goes back in the evening. I offered to go down everyday, but he says he wants to come up and see my parents everyday.



My brother the Peacockrider wants to know what the major characters in the story are doing . At the beginning it was only he that was interested in knowing what was happening. Slowly the animals also became curious . Soon mother was also asking about it. Even my father is getting interested in knowing what is happening. Mother tells me that my father is staying home in the evening just to listen to my story ( She says that because of this there is less ash in the house now) . So, the whole Snow mountain is looking forward to this story. Everybody sits around me in the night after dinner and I tell the story of the day.



I do not know whether I, a young boy, should be writing this book . There is too much of man-woman stuff. I told my parents about it. They say that it does not hurt to know things. And I can sense that there will be too many wars and battles. Not really the stuff which young minds should be poisoned with ! But my brother says that this is the fun stuff ! Anyway the story seems to interest everybody here. So be it !



I like the name of the city in which the whole action takes place. The elephant in me takes pride that the city is named after it ! The story starts like many other stories: Once there was a king ……..