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

ones in the Great Hall offer little comfort but can always be relied on to provide a new splinter. I do not see how that is preferable.
    â€œFifty?” Andrew says, shaking his head in amazement. “Fifty little Benjamins running around the village? That is truly something, my friend.”
    â€œThey are not so little,” I tell him. “Some are only a year younger than us. It was quite a shock, I assure you.”
    Andrew takes another bite and, with his mouth full, says, “No doubt, friend, no doubt.”
    It is my turn to shake my head at him. “You shall surely fail your test to become a squire one month hence if you keep talking with your mouth full. You recall the famous saying, ‘A page is made a squire only if found worthy of being a knight.’”
    â€œI know, I know,” he says, brushing the crumbs from his lap onto the floor. “I’ve heard that one since I was in the cradle. Trust me, friend. I will not eat stolen plum cakes while showing off my prowess with a sword.”
    â€œSee that you don’t,” I say with a smile. I munch my cake quietly, staring out the window into the inky darkness of the castle grounds. “You are so lucky, Andrew,” I tell him, not for the first time. “Everyone looks up to a knight. Those fifty Benjamins will certainly admire you for your power and grace.”
    â€œThey will look up to a king, too,” Andrew replies. “As they do a prince.”
    I shake my head. “They may look at a prince or a king with respect or allegiance, but not with admiration. It is different.” I sigh deeply. “I wish there were some way to prove my worthiness. I would dearly like to help the poor spectacle-maker-turned-dung-heap-cleaner. But he is surely too proud to accept charity from me. I would not want to insult him. I must figure out a way for him to get enough money on his own, so that he can become who he has always dreamed ofbecoming. But how? Ask the castle stonemasons to build more dung chutes around the kingdom so he will have more to clean?”
    Andrew wrinkles his nose. “I’m sure there is a better solution than that.” He shoots a quick look over at the cook. Still snoring away. He leans forward in his chair and whispers, “You could always search out the secret cave in the Great Forest where the bandits hid their treasure before they were captured. Then you could lead the boy you call Other Benjamin to it while pretending you had not been there before. That way he would rightfully have claim to half of the treasure and it would not be charity.”
    â€œWhat cave? What bandits? What treasure? Have you drunk too much ale yourself?”
    Andrew laughs. “You know nothing of the abandoned bandit cave in the woods? I have known of the bandit cave since before I could walk.”
    My cheeks redden. “Just another example of how my parents keep me in the dark about the truly interesting things in life.”
    I must look as depressed as I feel, because Andrew pushes the last plum cake toward me and says, “I am sorry, Prince. I didn’t mean to make fun. The cave is a crazy idea, anyway.”
    I shake my head. “No, it’s a very good idea. Better thanmore dung chutes, that is for certain. Now, I may not know much about the ways of the world, but I do know that a cave full of treasure does not stay full of treasure for long. Would not someone have cleaned it out by now?”
    â€œAh,” replies Andrew, leaning back in his chair, “that is the rub. You see, there is a catch.”
    â€œA catch?”
    He nods. “A big hairy troll guards the entrance of the cave. No one will dare approach it, not even the knights.”
    â€œA troll?” I echo in disbelief. “You are pulling my leg.”
    â€œI assure you I am not,” Andrew replies. “Your legs are quite long enough as they are.”
    See, this is why I need a friend like Andrew. No