THE UGLY KING



The Ugly King  wearing wig by Foutoux
All Rights Reserved L.Ivison Copyright 2013

 There once lived a King who was remarkably ugly.  His body was as twisted as a corkscrew, his belly fat.  He had no chin and a nose as fat as a tomato, eyes as small as currents and, to crown it all, he was as bald as an ostrich egg.  When he smiled he showed a mouth of broken teeth and consequently he was not very popular with women.  Even the local peasant girl could not be persuaded to marry the King and he, with the exception of a few servants,  had lived alone all his life.  But inside this deformed body beat a passionate heart, an intelligent mind and he occupied himself with afFairs of state in a dignified and  just manner.  When he sat on the throne many of the courtiers had dificulty in not laughing at the ridiculous stature of their monarch.

Apart from affairs of state the King's great passion was his garden and in particular his garden of irises which grew behind an ancient brick wall.  It was late Spring now,the irises were in bloom and the King could be seen bent over a purple iris with a small brush which he used to remove pollen.  He then limped to another flower and fertilised a yellow iris.  Great was his satisfaction.  What colour would this new hibred be?  His garden was filled with flowers of every conceivable colour, striped, spotted, lilac, purple, and crimson irses.  The King's work did not stop the work of the bees who pushed the pollen onto their bent legs and flew higgeldy piggeldy amongst the petals, landing sometimes for a second and then suddenly, as if changing their minds, flew onto another flower, paused and pollinated.  The King and the bees worked together and during this time the King quite forgot the absence of a Queen or a son or a daughter.  His garden was his palette and he worked ceaselessly without a pause during the long late Spring days.

One day it was announced that Princess G. from a local principality would be visiting.  The King, in front of his mirror, polished his bald pate, smiled his broken smile and went to meet  t he Princess in the State Room.  Seated on his throne, the doors of state opened and a woman with the statue of a child appeared.  On her face, still that of a child,  was a nose as disformed as any nose could be but her face was lit by two intelligent brown eyes.  The Ugly Princess walked towards her twisted monarch and made a low courtsey.

It took a very short walk in the King's garden, down the path which divided the irises, for the ugly couple to realise that they were made for each other.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED  COPYRIGHT L. IVISON  2013