Archive Posted January 30, 2003 Report Posted January 30, 2003 Zool47 Elder Posts: 11 (7/20/01 9:12:54 am) Reply The Young Prince -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Without introduction, the Painting on the wall begins to speak...* A long long time ago, in a place far far away, there lived a young Prince. The young Prince was a princely fellow, who presented himself in a princely way, and always shouldered his responsibilites in a princely manner, loving his country and future subjects as he did in such a princely fashion. As was the custom, when of age the young Prince entered the military, to train in the ways of representing his country with authority and respect. His country was a seafaring nation, so he entered the navy as a cadet officer. His father, the King, was a serious King, who understood that the foundation of wisdom was humility. Therefore, he gathered the officers of the naval academy together and warned them that the Prince was to be treated no different than any other cadet officer, that he must start at the bottom and properly work his way up, without any special treatment or consideration. This was done unknown to the Prince, but being like his father, he would have had it no other way, and naturally undertook his new tasks with no other expectation. Being a bright fellow, things went well anyway for the Prince, until one day when out to sea, walking down a corridor of the ship. The corridor wasn't very well lit, and he saw and heard nothing until suddenly he felt a severe kick to his rear! He was so surprised he simply stood stunned as his mysterious annoyer ran off. The Prince was a bit miffed at this, not being used to such indignant treatment. He stood in the corridor for a moment considering the train of events. His attacker having gotten away, and not wanting to appear a crybaby, he decided to let it pass. Things went fine until a few days later, when again he was caught by surprise and was kicked in the rear. Again his annoyer quickly escaped. The next day, he was kicked twice, and the day after that as well. The Prince was really getting annoyed, and he had been unable to catch his mysterious attackers. He was sure he had not pissed anyone off to deserve such treatment. He was loathe to report such behaviour, however, as to do so in his eyes would be very un-princely. With grim resolve, he determined to take care of it himself. The next day he got his chance. When his duties demanded, he headed below decks, his senses on full alert. He didn't have far to go before a small sound caught his awareness just as he turned a corner. He whirled around and caught the leg as it was coming up, throwing the uniformed figure to the floor in a painful hold. "Ow!" whispered the attacker hoarsely, who appearently didn't want to attract attention. "All right mister, you're going to tell me what I did to you to deserve getting kicked!" The young Prince tightened his hold as he spoke, making the other cadet squirm in pain. "Well, I, I..." started the cadet, obviously stalling. The Prince exerted more pressure. "Okay! Okay! You did nothing! You did nothing." "So why am I getting kicked?" asked the Prince, tightening his grip for emphasis. "Because you're the Prince! All us cadets figure we will be important officers one day, and we will never have another chance to be able to boast that we kicked the king!" It suddenly occured to the prince that that it wasn't because they thought ill of him that they kicked him - it was because they thought he was important! It reminded him of something his father had told him once. "There is no such thing as a disinterested interest," he said, "If people truly didn't care, they wouldn't be there." ~Zool~ Elder of Elders, The Pen is Mightier than the Sword. Bard of Terra, Patron Saint of Aspiring Bards. Elder than dirt, more foolish than a jester, able to trip over the smallest logic in a single step. It's... Oh, you know.
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