The Once Upon A Time Princess

The Once Upon A Time Princess 4

“Was that better?” ask Jeneth.

“It is a fabulous little story. Tell me,” inquired Viveka, “what did you want to teach me in this story?”

“Well, I was out for a walk yesterday and I saw a farmer going to market with some vegetables. He had a cart that was being pulled by a cow. I asked him about the cow. He told me I had beautiful hair and he said the cow's name was Betsy but one of the maids in the kitchen is named Betsy and I didn't want the story to be about her so I named the cow Jeff. Then I asked the farmer what cows eat because I didn't know. He told me that cows eat grass and sometimes they eat weeds and when they eat thistles, the milk tastes funny. I said that I had never had milk that tastes funny and he said that most farmers like him don't sell funny tasting milk because people don't want to buy it so they make it into cheese instead but they don't sell that cheese either because it tastes funny too, so he and his family eat it. Then they make sure that the cows don't eat the thistles anymore. Then I wanted to tell you about what I learned about cows yesterday so I wrote this story,” replied Jeneth.

“Well, that's a fabulous story as well. Thank you for telling it to me.”

“I have more stories to tell you,” started Jeneth.

“We'll have to wait for those stories for another day. Today we need you to practice writing your letters and your numbers.”

“But how will I become a storyteller if I don't practice telling stories?”

“When a young man wants to learn to build houses, he first learns about trees. Then he learns how to cut trees into boards and then he learns to put the boards together so that they become a house. Similarly, you must learn to write letters, numbers and words before you can build sentences. Then you must learn proper grammar to construct strong sentences and paragraphs so you can build paragraphs into a good story,” explained Viveka.

“Oh,” said Princess Jeneth, rather dejected. “I wanted to write more stories.”

Viveka thought for a moment. Then she looked at Jeneth and said, “There's a special prize for students who want to be really good at something. It's called 'homework'. It is called this because a student will usually do extra work outside of her classroom, usually at home. Because you have been a good student, what would you say if I gave you some homework so that you could write a story or a part of a story every day at home on your own?”

“That would be wonderful!” exclaimed Jeneth, then excitedly and somewhat awed, “I get to have homework.”

“Great. But first we do our lessons.” Viveka opened another book, “Once upon a time...”

They studied. They worked. They studied and worked. They worked and they studied. And then they worked and studied some more.

Sometimes, they would go for walks to see the different sights of the kingdom. They would see the grains in the fields, the cows in the dairy, the trees and the flowers, the bakers and the tailors and all the sights of the kingdom.

One day as they were reading a story, Jeneth stopped Viveka.

“This is a happy story,” observed Jeneth. “Why do the people in the picture have not-happy faces?”

“Yes, they do look rather stoic or staid. Perhaps that is just the way that the artist has drawn them.”

“Yes, their faces are rather drawn,” Jeneth punned.

Viveka laughed, then continued with the lesson.

That night, in addition to the usual homework, Jeneth found the book and, with her quill and some ink, she made some changes.

A few weeks later, her changes were discovered.

“Jeneth, someone has drawn in this book. Do you know anything of it?” asked the Queen.

“Yes, Mother. It was I who did this,” replied Jeneth.

“Would you like to explain your actions?”

“Yes, Mother. I enjoyed the story but the prints did not match the story. The faces of the people in the prints were not happy and the story was a very happy one. I made their faces merry.”

“Yes, I have to agree with you there,” the Queen sighed, continued, “When I was a little girl, I thought the same thing about this story. Their faces should be merry. However, the artists that made these prints put a lot of work into them. Books are very rare and very valuable. Young ladies should not be making changes to books that belong to others. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mother,” replied Princess Jeneth, chagrined, “I shan't do it again.”

“Good,” the Queen smiled and then spent some time chatting with her daughter.

Over the next few years, Princess Jeneth was beginning to develop into a lovely young lady. She became proficient with her school work, sporting activities, sewing, cooking and playing the lyre, as is befitting of all young ladies of the court.

One day, Princess Jeneth, with a sheaf of pages in hand, approached Viveka.

“I have been working on a story,” began Jeneth, “I would like to hear your comments on it.”

“Shall we review it together?”

“If you don't mind...”