“THE King of France went up the hill,
With twenty thousand men;
The King of France came down the hill,
And ne'er went up again.”
There
once was a King named Frank that ruled France. Like most Kings, his greed often
got the best of him. Born from a long line of royalty, I guess you could say
this king was also pretty spoiled. The Kingdom was calm, all was well. No one
seemed to question Frank, or his ruling. At least that is what he thought.
Frank spent his days basking in his own glory, reminding everyone around him
just how wonderful, and magnificent he was.
Frank
was also sort of self-absorbed. There were mirrors in every room of his castle.
It almost seemed as if he wanted to surround himself…. With himself…
“I
am SO handsome!” Frank would say, as he glanced in every mirror hung upon the
walls of his castle. His house maids soon began to wonder if there was ever
going to be a single surface of the wall uncovered with these vast mirrors,
that of course he always wanted cleaned to perfection.
Frank
had a very simple life. He stayed in his castle, with the idea that all was
well, and the country adored him, as he sat upon his throne staring at himself.
However,
like most self absorbed people, Frank was completely unaware of the great
disaster going on within his home village! Famine had struck, and times were
hard. The people had been wondering if moving from this village was the
solution to the issue.
More
years passed, and the famine grew, causing great despair as King Frank sat upon
his throne…. you guessed it, still staring in the mirror at himself.
“We
must move, and suffer no more.” said a brave soul in the city center. This lone
voice was all the people needed to take the plunge to move.
As
the townsmen packed their things and prepared for the journey up the hill to a
better location, word finally traveled to the self absorbed King Frank.
“The
people cannot leave without me!” he exclaimed as he discovered this tragedy.
Who was to bask in his beauty!
“I
am coming with them. We will build a new castle upon the hill.” He said to
himself in the mirror.
King
Frank began to pack his things, ready to move up the hill with his townspeople.
Yet it soon dawned upon him: how will I get all my mirrors to the top of the
hill!
“THE King
of France went up the hill,
With twenty thousand men;
With twenty thousand men;
Upon
this realization, King Frank, being the selfish king he was, enlisted the “help”
of his townspeople.
“Each
member of the town must a mirror up the hill!” He declared, to the town.
The
townspeople were reluctant to help such a selfish king, but they decided that
this was not the battle to choose. Famine was upon them, and they needed to
leave the town.
So,
up the hill they went, each member carrying a mirror. Days went by as the King
continued to stare in his hand held mirror as his carriage pulled him along his
journey. Finally, they reached the top of the hill, and it was more than they
had imagined! The land was a paradise! Water was clear, fruit was plentiful, and
things were looking up!
A
few years passed, as the town thrived. People were happy, and everything seemed
to be going well… That is until the greedy king found a new obsession.
Frank, in his old age no longer saw himself to be as handsome as
he once was, and because of that he was forced to find a new obsession: other
people’s things. After all, he was King! He had the right to whatever he
wanted! So on he went taking whatever he pleased from whoever he wanted.
The people were outraged. A self-obsessed king they could handle,
a robber, not so much. They came together in unity to banish the king. Even his
own family did not defend him.
The
King of France came down the hill,
And ne'er went up again.”
And ne'er went up again.”
Down to the famished valley they banished him, never to think of
King Frank, or his mirrors again.
.jpg) |
| ( King Frank) |
Authors Note: This story was based on a Nursery Rhyme. This Nursery Rhyme came from The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897). This story is a bit of a morality story like all the others I am sure we have read throughout our childhood. There was a selfish, greedy king that thought he was doing nothing wrong. He's King! Eventually however, he was exiled from his own town because he was just that selfish.
I like how you included the whole nursery rhyme in the beginning, gave an introduction, and then broke the story up for each part of the rhyme. This was very effective, and helped me (as a reader) see what specific points you were trying to emphasize on. You did a wonderful job writing this tale, and I could only wish I had a fraction of your imagination!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your story very much! I like how you put the original nursery rhyme, but changed it so completely. I wish I had your imagination for stuff like this. I read the nursery rhyme and imagined an army or something generic, and you took it to a whole new level. I also enjoyed how you made it into a learning experience for the king. You did a great job writing this! Keep up the great work! I look forward to reading more of your stories in the future!
ReplyDeleteI had never actually seen this nursery rhyme until I read your storybook post. When I read it, I thought that it would be about war, but boy was I wrong. I like that you made the kind so selfish and vain to explain why he had no more people left. I know that I wouldn’t want to follow a king who was as self-absorbed as this man. He reminded me of Dorian Grey from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey and I know that if Dorian had been a king, he’d be exactly like Frank. I really enjoyed your story!
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