What! No children?....

Long ago there lived a king and queen with no children

And the king said to himself, "All the queens of my acquaintance

have children, some three, some seven, and some as many as twelve;

and my queen has not one. I feel ill-used." So he made up his mind

to be cross with his wife about it. But she bore it all like a good

patient queen as she was. Then the king grew very cross indeed. But

the queen pretended to take it all as a joke, and a very good one

too.

"Why don't you have any daughters, at least?" said he. "I don't say

sons; that might be too much to expect."

"I am sure, dear king, I am very sorry," said the queen.

"So you ought to be," retorted the king; "you are not going to make

a virtue of that, surely."

But he was not an ill-tempered king, and in any matter of less

moment would have let the queen have her own way with all his

heart. This, however, was an affair of state.

The queen smiled.

"You must have patience with a lady, you know, dear king," said

she.

She was, indeed, a very nice queen, and heartily sorry that she

could not oblige the king immediately.

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