Knjigice
Fairy tale · Classic fairy tales
The Prince and the Pauper
The story of two boys who traded lives
Also in: Kraljevič in berač (Slovenian) · Princ a bedár (Slovak)
In old London two boys were born on the same day. The first, Edward, was born in a palace with a hundred windows, and the whole city cheered for joy. The second, Tom Canty, was born in a narrow, poor lane where nobody rejoiced — at Tom's house there was scarcely bread enough. And nobody guessed how strangely fate would one day weave their paths together.
1
Tom grew up in ragged clothes and often hungry, and his father was a harsh man. But Tom knew how to dream. From old tales he learned how princes speak, and in the lane he played at royal court: a crate was the throne, a straw wreath the crown. "One day," he said, "I shall see a real prince, at least from far away."
2
One day Tom wandered as far as the royal palace. Through the golden railings he saw a boy in golden clothes — a real prince! A guard seized Tom and shoved him away. "Stop!" cried Prince Edward. "Is that how you treat a poor lad? Open the gate and let him in!" And Tom stepped into the palace.
3
In the prince's room the boys looked at each other in wonder. The same face, the same eyes, the same chestnut hair — as if in a mirror! Edward listened to tales of games in the muddy lane and sighed: "I should like to try that." And Tom looked at the silken cushions: "And I would be a prince for just one day."
4
"Let us change clothes!" said Edward. "Just for an hour!" Tom put on the gold, Edward the ragged cast-offs — and before the mirror they burst out laughing: nobody, nobody at all, could tell them apart. Just then Edward saw a bruise on Tom's arm. Furious, he ran out to scold the guard — still in rags.
5
"Be off with you, beggar!" growled the guard at the gate, seizing Edward in his rags and flinging him into the street. "I am the prince!" cried Edward. The crowd laughed: "Look at him — the king in tatters!" The palace gates closed. And so the true prince was stuck outside, and the true pauper inside.
6
Tom's harsh father found Edward and dragged him off to the poor lane. For the first time the prince felt cold and hunger, and the unjust laws that punished poor folk cruelly for nothing at all. But he saw goodness too: people who had almost nothing shared their last piece of bread.
7
Then Edward was taken under the wing of a soldier called Miles Hendon, a tall man with a worn cloak and a long sword. "I am Prince Edward," the boy told him gravely. Miles smiled and bowed low: "At your service, Your Highness." Perhaps he even half believed him. He guarded the boy, fed him and defended him from all.
8
Meanwhile Tom trembled in the palace. They led him to the old king, a heavy man with a grey beard who looked as stern as a thunderstorm. But the king stroked his cheek: "My son, do you not know me?" Tom tried to tell the truth, and nobody believed him. "The prince is only tired," whispered the courtiers.
9
At the grand supper Tom drank from the finger bowl, and the courtiers hid their smiles. He did not know the Great Seal of the realm, so with the heavy golden stamp he — cracked nuts! Then one evening a quiet sorrow filled the palace: the old king had fallen asleep for ever. "Long live the King!" they cried. And Tom turned pale.
10
The day of the coronation came. In the great church the archbishop in his golden cope was already lifting the crown above Tom's head, when a boy in rags came running up the aisle. "Stop!" he called in a clear voice. "I am the King!" The crowd gasped and stared: the boys were as alike as two drops of water. And Tom cried out: "It is true! He is the rightful king!"
11
"Only the true king knows where the Great Seal is hidden," said the archbishop. Edward thought, and smiled: "I hid it in the hollow gauntlet of the suit of armour in my room." And there it lay indeed! Tom laughed: "And I did not even know what it was. I cracked nuts with it!" The whole church laughed with him.
12
The crown came to the right head: Edward became king in a scarlet robe. He named Tom the King's Ward for life, and to faithful Miles he granted a splendid right: to sit in the king's presence. The young king ruled gently and justly — for he knew how his people lived.
13The End
