From her balcony, Mei Mei could see Jei Jei and her husband Daniel hoeing row upon row in the rice paddies far below.
After being married for a time, Mei Mei began to complain. She did not complain about being married for she dearly loved her handsome prince. She did complain about little things. Prince Nicolas gently scolded her, which was something that he found hard to do for he loved her so. He gently reminded her that she was a Princess now. A Princess simply does not complain.
Even though the palace was big and spooky and needed cleaning badly, Mei Mei was not allowed to mention a word of it for a Princess does not complain. It simply is not done. When she looked out from the balcony, she could not complain about the fact that Jei Jei and her husband were up to their knees in mud, planting rice seedlings and she was stuck in this big, spooky palace, which needed cleaning badly.
Both Jei Jei and Prince Nicolas would have been happy working in the fields. They both loved to plant seeds. They both loved to hoe row upon row encouraging tender shoots to grow. Of course they couldn’t trade places with Jei Jei and her husband. It simply would not do for a prince and his princess to be seen pulling weeds, planting seeds and hoeing row upon row. Of course, they could not complain. It simply would not do.
Being Prince was often a royal pain. Prince Nicolas often had cause to complain. However, he could not. Prince Nicolas contented himself with puttering in his royal garden, encouraging tender shoots to grow and hoeing row upon row.
Somehow it was not enough.To break the monotony of royal duties, Mei Mei and Nicolas decided to invite Jei Jei and her handsome husband to the palace for tea.
At the appointed hour, Jei Jei and Daniel, dressed to the nines, arrived at the palace gates. As the gates swung inward the gatekeeper said the strangest thing.
“Good afternoon, Your Majesty.” Both Jei Jei and Daniel looked over their shoulders to see if their brother-in-law the Prince and future king was indeed behind them.
Daniel nodded and was amazed to be greeted by a salute.
“That is a bit strange,” said Daniel who promptly forgot about it being in awe of the splendor of the palace.
“How have you been?” Jei Jei asked Mei Mei. |
