Sleeping Beauty, the One Who Took the Really Long Nap Read Online Free PDF Page A

to repeat his comment. “All I said, sir — and forgive me my boldness —was to wonder aloud about your son’s, ah, eating habits.”
    Father looked surprised. “Many children have strange tastes. Why, when I was the Prince’s age, I would eat only quail eggs and strawberry jam.”
    â€œI am sure you are right, Your Highness. It is probably only a phase. Let us put on your nightclothes now.”
    The chamberlain held up Father’s dressing gown, butFather narrowed his eyes and said, “You do not believe it is a phase, do you?”
    â€œI am sure I don’t know, Your Highness,” said the chamberlain, no doubt wishing he had never mentioned anything.
    â€œYou think he may be part ogre, like the Queen.”
    The chamberlain chewed on his lip and didn’t answer. Father sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed. “I admit, I have wondered the same thing.” He put his head in his hands. The chamberlain awkwardly patted Father on the shoulder.
    â€œEr, it will be all right, Your Highness. I am sure your first theory was correct. So the boy likes mutton? A lot. So what? I haven’t seen any other ogre-ish tendencies in him.”
    â€œNor have I,” Father said, raising his head slightly. “But how can we be certain?”
    The chamberlain paced the room, unused to being taken into the King’s confidence in this way. “We can devise a test,” he suggested. “Although we don’t know what day, or days, of the month his ogre-ish blood will rise to the surface — not that I’m saying it will — but if it does, we need to be prepared ahead of time.”
    â€œWhat kind of test?” Father asked miserably.
    The chamberlain shook his head. “I am not sure. Perhaps you could consult with the castle chaplain? He could pray on it.”
    Father stood up and clasped his chamberlain on the forearm. “That is an excellent idea. I shall do that first thing in the morning.”
    The chamberlain nodded and began dressing Father in his nightclothes.
    â€œAnd by the way,” Father continued, “you’re fired for being so impertinent as to speak to me about my son.”
    The chamberlain gaped and turned white.
    â€œHa-ha, just kidding, old man,” Father said. “You’re not fired.”
    (Besides my mom’s “issues,” my dad’s “sense of humor” was also why it was hard to keep good help around.)
    The next morning Father went directly to the castle chaplain, and together they devised a test for me. They found as many strangers as they could, and each day invited a different one to have lunch with me and Father out on the Great Lawn. Mother always had committee meetings at lunchtime (she was very active in the community, part of her whole “beloved by the masses” thing), so Father knew the newcomers to the castle would be safe.
    I was so thrilled to be spending time with Father that it never even dawned on me to suspect anything. As the month was winding down, Father had run out of strangers and had to invite the same ones back again. Even though I loved spending time with Father and felt important for thefirst time in my life, the lunches were deadly boring. By the time the guests started to repeat, I tried desperately to get out of going. Father agreed that all I had to do was show up and shake the person’s hand. Then I could be on my way. This was fine with me. Not that I had any grand plans for my free time. I longed to immerse myself in my studies, but no tutors stayed around long enough for me to get through a whole geography or history lesson. Most children would probably be pleased with that, but I was often bored. I wanted to learn about the outside world, but no one was there to teach me. I spent much time in the aviary with the falconer, who let me feed the birds that accompanied Father when he went out hunting. Even though they had very sharp beaks, they