Storytelling for Week Four: Prince Charles

Prince Charles

There once was a prince named Charles. He had to take the throne at the ripe age of sixteen due to the untimely death of his great father King Bradley. As with any young man in his position, he let the power go to his head. He started making absurd laws and not serving his people in a just way. Mobs began forming outside the castle everyday growing in rage and violence. They were so displeased with the performance of the prince and wanted him removed from the thrown instantly.

The prince’s advisors told him the only way to save his throne was to marry a woman to help him justly rule the country. The prince eventually obliged and started seeking out women. He had many problems finding a wife due to his unpopularity within the country. Eventually he found three women who were willing to be his wife. To decide which one to marry he gave them the task of quieting the growing mob outside the castle. The first woman made him some wonderful earplugs that could silence all the noises of the mob and let him lay in peace. The second woman started making large and delicious meals in an effort to keep the crowd’s mouths full so they could not yell. The third woman took charge and stood before the people calming them down with her kind words and wisdom.

After much deliberation the prince finally decided on the third woman. The third woman was the most take charge and he felt she could help him run this country justly. She was very proud to have been picked and they were quickly married.

All was well for a while. Then the prince started reverting back to his old ways. He started partying too much and having no regard for the country he was supposed to be running. Again the mobs were formed. Naturally, the prince decided to send his wife out to calm then mob since she did such a wonderful job the first time around. Unfortunately, this times things did not go as planned. The wife went out to the courtyard to try and reason with the people and promise she will get the prince back on the right track. The people were outraged claiming he had already used up all of his chances and they were done waiting on him to grow up. Her efforts at reasoning were failing but she was not keen to giving up. She trying day and night to calm the angry mob with no success. And while she was out there the prince was just dragging the country further and further downhill with debt at its all-time high along with massive crime rates and deaths around the country.

After a few days the crowd became fed up and decided that if the wife would not let them in to the prince they would just go through her. The wife was trampled dead by the angry mob as they rushed into the castle. Once inside they grabbed the prince from his sleeping chambers and carried him to the furthest border of their country. Out of respect for his great father (may he rest in peace) they decided to spare his life but ban him from their country for the rest of his days. 

Author's Note: My tale is a combination of the overarching story from Tales of a Parrot and one of the parrot's nightly tales. The overarching story is of a wife wanting to cheat on her husband while he is out of town. The parrot distracts her from leaving each night by telling her these lengthy tales. When the husband returns the parrot tells him of her thoughts of cheating and he kills her for her unfaithfulness. The tale I mashed with the overarching story is called The Merchant whose Daughter was Lost. This tale is of three gentleman callers fighting over a woman. One day she is taken in the night and the three men use their skills to find her and bring her home. Then she must decide which one to marry based off of what they did to save her. She chooses the third one who actually came and picked her up. 

My thoughts for this tale was to take the small story and change the roles and make it a male with three females after his affection since this is not usually the case in old tales. I thought it would make the story a bit more dynamic. I then combined it with the main story by adding the sad ending which is in line with the sad ending of Tales of a Parrot. I wanted to keep some elements of the reading while still making it new and interesting. 

Bibliography:  The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801).

the young prince