BACK PROOF 8' A knight must prove himself to marry the princess Once upon a time a long time ago in a land far, far away, a princess and a knight were in love with each other. But when the knight went to the king to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage, the king refused, because the king wanted the princess to marry a prince. Both the knight and the princess begged the king to change his mind. So, finally, the king said to the knight, "You may marry my daughter if you pass the test." "I'll do it!" replied the knight, "What is the test?" The king explained, "It's a test of love. If you really love my daughter, you will sail the high seas to Africa to bring back a symbol of your love for the princess." "What symbol?" asked the knight. The king replied, "You must travel across Africa to the diamond mines, where you will dig in the mines until you find a twenty-karat diamond and bring it back here." The knight knew that sailing across the ocean was dangerous and that working in the diamond mines is very dangerous work. But he loved the princess with all his heart. So, he set sail for Africa. Six months later, he was still not back from Africa. Everyone, including the princess, thought he had drowned at sea or that he died when the diamond mine collapsed on his head. But a week after everyone had lost hope that he would ever get back, the knight walked into the king's throne room and knelt before the king. "You made it!?" exclaimed the king, "You made it all the way to Africa and back?!" "Yes, Your Majesty," replied the knight. "And the diamond?" asked the king, "You brought the diamond?!" The knight held out his hand and opened it. There in the palm of his hand was a diamond the size of the king's nose. "Now, may I marry the princess?" asked the knight. The king thought for a moment, then replied, "Yes, you may marry my daughter... IF you pass the next test" "Another test?!" exclaimed both the knight and the princess. "Yes," replied the king, "If you marry my daughter, I must know that you will never leave her. Your test is to bring me a symbol that you will stay attached to her for life." "What kind of symbol?" asked the knight. "You must sneak into the prison and steal a set of shackles and, if you can escape from the prison with the shackles and bring them to me, you will prove that you will stay attached to my daughter." "I'll do it!" replied the knight and he left for the prison immediately. Two months later, he had still not returned. Everyone including the princess thought he had been caught or killed trying to escape from the prison. But the knight knew at the start that his skills as a knight could not help him sneak into the prison or escape from the prison. So, he spent the next two months training to break into and out of prison. First, he trained with mountain climbers learning to climb and descend from ropes and how to climb the stone walls using just his fingers and toes. The knight also found a burglar who had just been released from jail. The burglar taught the knight how the prison was layed out and where to find a set of shackles. He also helped the knight to practice burglar skills like sneaking around in the darkness and opening locked locks. The knight then spent the next month watching the guards at the prison, noticing when and where they patrolled the walls and the gates. About a week after everyone in the kingdom had lost all hope that the knight would ever get out of prison, the knight walked into the king's throne room and knelt before the king. "You made it!?" exclaimed the king, "You made it into the prison AND you escaped from prison?!" Then the knight opened a cloth bag and dumped a set of leg shackles onto the floor. "Here is a symbol of my commitment to your daughter." Said the knight, "I will stay with her for a lifetime as if shackled to her with these shackles. Now, may I marry the princess?" The king thought for a moment, then replied, "Yes, you may marry my daughter... IF you pass the last test." "Another test?!" exclaimed both the knight and the princess. "Yes," replied the king, "My daughter is a princess. A princess must marry the bravest person in the kingdom. So, you must prove that you are the bravest person in the kingdom. And I need you to bring me a symbol of your bravery" "What kind of symbol?" asked the knight. The king replied, "You must make your own bow an arrow. But the feathers on the arrow must be made with the tail feathers of a living eagle. You may not kill the eagle to get the feathers." "I'll do it!" replied the knight and he left immediately for the mountains where the eagles lived. This was a particularly dangerous time of year to go near eagles, because the eagles were protecting their newly hatched eaglets fiercely. Two months later, everyone, including the princess, thought the knight had been killed by the eagles or had fallen to his death from the steep mountains. But, the knight had learned the skills of mountain climbing in order to climb over the walls of the prison. But he knew nothing about how to sneak up on the world's most dangerous bird. He also lacked the skills for building a bow and arrow or even choosing the best kind of wood for a bow and arrow. So, before he climbed the mountains, he found carpenters and bow makers, who helped him to choose the best woods and to build the best bow and arrow. Then he found the local nature expert about the behavior of eagles, where to find them and how to sneak up on them during the nesting season. Then the knight decided to climb part way up the mountain during the day, then wait until after dark to sneak up on the nesting eagles and pluck two feathers from a sleeping eagle's tail. About a week after everyone in the kingdom had lost all hope that the knight would ever return alive, he walked into the king's throne room with a bow and arrow in hand and knelt before the king. "You made it!?" exclaimed the king, "You made that arrow with the tail feathers of an eagle without killing the eagle?!" "Yes, Your Majesty." replied the knight, "I have in my hands the symbol of my bravery that you asked for. And you said that this was the last test. Now, may I marry the princess?" The king thought for a moment, then, explained, "I must admit now that I never intended to let you marry my daughter, that she will marry a prince or even a king. When I sent you to Africa, I thought sure you would be drowned at sea or be killed in the diamond mine. And when I sent you to the prison, I was sure that, even if you could somehow sneak in, you could never escape. And when I sent you to get the tail feathers of an eagle, I thought sure you would fall to your death from the mountain or be killed by the eagles. But you survived all of those perils. But I'm sorry to tell you that, I am still going to insist that my daughter marries a prince. So, I still can't let you marry my daughter, because you're not a prince!" Then everyone in the throne room screamed when they saw the knight draw back his bow and aim his arrow at the king's head. They thought the knight was going to murder the king. But instead, the arrow whizzed over the king's shoulder and pierced the arm of an assassin who had sneaked into the throne room to murder the king. The assassin was arrested immediately and hauled off to prison. Then the king turned back to the knight and exclaimed "You saved my life! How can I refuse you now?! You may certainly marry my daughter!" And they all lived happily ever after. Š2008 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties. Do not sell this story or rewrite it. You may reproduce and distribute this story freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.bobsnook.org/kid email: bob@bobsnook.org BACK