Rapunzel, the One With All the Hair Read Online Free PDF Page A

the men said hesitantly. He probably bowed, but in my current state of blindness, he was too far away for me to tell for sure. I canonly imagine what he thought was going on, me being led by the arm through the streets of the village.
    We turned a corner and Other Benjamin (that is what I have decided to call him) led me into a very small, round house that seemed to be made only of earth and straw and rock. A hole in the middle of the thatched roof let out the smoke from the fire his mother was tending. I lifted a lens to my eye and saw that his father and younger brother were eating a small meal at the table. They scrambled to their feet when they noticed us. His father brushed off his shirt and bowed. He was round-faced and kind-looking. The young boy just stared at me, mouth hanging open.
    â€œFather, I told Prince Benjamin that you would be able to help him. He has broken his specs.”
    Unable to think of anything else to do to end the awkwardness, I held the two pieces up so he could see them.
    â€œI will try,” he said with what I thought was a wink. While we waited, Other Benjamin’s mother fed me tea and some sort of raisin-nut cake that was delicious. The house was tiny, but it was cozy.
    Ten minutes later, my glasses had been miraculously put back together with thin thread and a putty of some kind that came out of a small jar. I could not even tell where they had been broken.
    I slipped them onto my face. They fit better than ever before. “You are a master at what you do,” I said sincerely.
    â€œA master?” the younger brother squeaked. “At cleaning dung heaps?”
    Everyone’s face reddened, including mine. Other Benjamin’s mother said, “Hush, child!”
    Other Benjamin’s father cleared his throat, stood a little straighter, and said, “Being a spectacle maker is an uncertain line of work. You never know how many folks will need specs, but everyone needs their dung heap cleaned. It’s steady business.”
    I did not know what to say. I never had to think about what profession would be best for raising a family. I had never thought of so many things. I held out my hand and, in my most princely voice, managed to thank him again for a job well done. He had a firm and hearty shake. Then I turned to my namesake. “Thank you, too, Other Benjamin. You were very kind to help me in this way.”
    Other Benjamin blushed and gave me another clumsy bow.
    As I walked back through the village, I took note of all the hardworking folk. The blacksmith steadily banging his iron ore, the coopers bending rims of metal to make their barrels, the farmers lugging buckets of wheat to be groundby the miller. I wondered how many other Other Benjamins I was passing.
    I have a newfound respect for the villagers who will clean dung heaps instead of following their dream because it is best for their family. They deserve a strong leader to look up to. I better start acting like one. I will enlist Andrew to tell me how. His training for knighthood includes learning all about how nobility is supposed to behave. He’ll steer me rightly, I am sure.

It occurs to me that I have not had to, shall we say, rid my body of excess food or drink since my arrival. I suspect the witch has somehow bewitched my meals so I will not have to relieve myself. This is a good thing, because there is no chamber pot in my room, and I am certainly NOT relieving myself out the window!

Andrew and I munch on late-night plum cakes while the night cook sleeps off his six mugs of ale on a stool in the corner of the kitchen. It always amazes me that he doesn’t fall off. Even the creaking of our old wooden chairs does not stir him. It took me many years to realize that once the furniture in the castle gets too worn or broken, it is moved into the servants’ quarters. These old chairs are so well worn that our rear ends fit perfectly into the indentations created by decades of rear ends. The