Do you remember the story about the Princess Never-A-Smile? I'll tell you how that story ended.
Eminent guests came from all over the world to the wedding: Kings, kings, Princes and Princesses. The guests sang and danced for three days and three nights at the wedding. They were having so much fun that all the chairs became rickety, and some were even broken. Eventually the wedding was over. The guests left. The most ordinary royal everyday life began - boring and uninteresting. The Prince who married the Princess Never-A-Smile and received half the kingdom-state as a result of his marriage had a very ordinary name: Alexei. The very next morning after the wedding, Alexei began to tidy up the entire palace and began, of course, with the chairs and tables.
The King was amazed and grumbled: “This is not a job for a member of a royal family. Not at all.”
Alexei just smiled and went on doing his job. He had skillful fingers. They missed work so much. Work was not a burden for him, but a joy. In three days,the work was completed in the palace. Even the benches and swings on the lawn in front of the palace were repaired.
And the Princess was not in the best of her moods. Hermood turned gloomy again. She is sitting for days on end crying.
Prince Alexei asked her: “My dear wife, maybe you'll go for a walk? Look at the wonderful weather, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the flowers are fragrant.”
“I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to,” the Princess petulantly pouted her tender, pink lips and let out streams of tears.
“If you don't want to go for a walk, then do something. For example, embroider.” ThePrince advised. “I remember my mother was quite the craftswoman,” he said proudly.
“I don't know how to do it, I don't want to do it, I won't...,” the Princess cried.
The Prince remembered how heartily his grandmother sang, and suggested that she sings the song "In the Field Stood a Birch Tree" along with him.
“I can't, I don't want to, I won't...,” the Princess continued insisting.
“My God! What can you do and what do you want to do then?” Alexey exclaimed after several attempts to occupy the Princess with something interesting. He even began to sweat after making effortsto occupy her with anything at all.
“Tell me something interesting. I'm bored!” the Princess said, yawning.
“Yes, yes, of course,” the Prince was delighted. “I'll tell you about the times when I worked for the master,”Prince Alexey began.
“No! I don't want to hear about it. It's not interesting,” the Princess began to sob again. “You must entertain me and make me laugh. Are you my husband or not?!” the Princess screamed.
“Yes, I am your husband, but not a clown or a harlequin,”Prince Alexei was offended. He turned and left the room, where his wife remained sitting in a chair crying.
His head was literally swollen from thoughts of "how to help my poor thing, my wife?" However, having thought for a while, he collected his thoughts and decided that he would make a decision about his wife later, but now he needed to deal with state affairs.
Prince Alexei came to the King’s chamber:
“Your Royal Highness! Please let me address you with a request!
“Please, do” the King answered affably. He loved his son-in-law Alexei very much. He saw in him the King to-be, his successor to the throne - businesslike, hard-working, independent. For now, Alexei had only half the kingdom-state, which the King gave him as a dowry.
“King-father, let me ride around my half-kingdom-state. I want to see how my people live and struggle for their life.”
“What are you talking about, son?My people live well. They live and enjoy life. And they regularly pay to the public coffers. Don't fuss in vain, will you? Live in the palace. Have fun and entertain my daughter and you will be happy,”The King tried to dissuade Alexei from the venture.
“King-father, I can't sit on my hands doing nothing. I'm not used to it. And I don't know how else to amuse the Princess. After all, you couldn't either, and tried every possible means, didn’t you?” Alexei reproached the King.
“That's true,” the King sighed heavily. “Well, fine. You can go. Just come back soon.”
Alexei mounted the best horse in the state and, accompanied by the same young men as himself, galloped across the lands of his half-kingdom-state. They gallopedon and on, and ahead of them was a field. Farmerswerelaboring in the field. The Prince drew reins, dismounted the horse, and started talking to the farmers: “Is this your field?”
“No, it’s not” the farmers answered.
“Whose field is it?” the Prince asked again.
“Our landowner's. We planted wheat in the field, now we are mowing and harvesting. We will give half of the harvest to the owner, and keep the other half for ourselves,” the farmers explained.
“However, for one landowner, half of the harvest is a lot, and for you it’s very little,” the Prince was surprised.
“What can we do? If we refuse, we will not get even half of it and our families will die of hunger. You are a traveler, be on your way, and do not distract us. We work from dawn to dusk and have no time for talking. While the weather is good, we must work. Farewell!” the people were talking irritably, getting back to work.
“Goodbye!” Alexei replied, saddling his horse. He rode on.
And then he saw the same picture in the second village, and in the third, and in the fourth.
In one meadow he saw cows grazing. He got off his horse so as not to disturb the herd and went to the herdsman. The herdsman, seeing that someone was coming towards him, was glad, at least he could chat with someone, otherwise he was tired of being silent with the cows.
“Hello. What is your name?” the Prince addressed the herdsman.
“I am Ivan,” the man answered cheerfully.
“Is this your herd?”the Princeasked.
“These cows belong to the farmers,” the herdsmananswered.
“The farmers of this village live well,” the Prince was delighted.
“Well, only they give half of all their milk to the master. He has a cheese factory. The workers make cheese there, and the owner takes it to sell it in the city,” the shepherd explained.
“Good for him. He must be payinga lot of money to the farmers for the milk he gets from them,” the Prince was even more delighted.
“No way!” the shepherd was glad to talk about anything, just to talk. He had a loose tongue. “The land, on which these cows graze, belongs to the master. The farmers pay with milk for the grass that the cows eat in his meadows.”
“Bless my soul!” The Prince was indignant. “We should pay a visit tothemaster.”
He said goodbye to the herdsman and galloped to the nearest estate of the owner of the fields. When he approachedthe house of the master he saw a huge mansion with carved windows and an iron roof. A porch with massive beautiful railings led into the house. The servants who met the guests were ordered to notify the owners of the house about the arrival of Prince Alexei.
The owner of the house immediately came out to meet the honourableguests. He was heavyset, with a large, round belly, a square face and small, cunning eyes. Seeing the Prince, he reached out to kiss his hands, but the Prince, understanding his intention, quickly moved his hands behind his back, which incredibly surprised the owner of the house.
A few minutes later, the Prince was brought into the house and seated at the table. The table was laden with all sorts of delicacies: there was overseas caviar and exotic fruits and vegetables. The Prince marveled at the master's royal wealth and asked him point-blank:
“Why do you, Ivan Makarych, take half of the harvest the farmers collect and half of all the milk they provide you with?”
“Well, half of that half...,” the master stumbled for a second and continued, “and the King's treasurer takes another half of the half for the state treasury,” he explained.
The Princewent around half the kingdom-state. It was the same situation everywhere. Poor farmers and rich landowners and court nobility, and in the citiesthere are rich merchants.
The Prince returned to the palace and went straight to the King:
“King-father, something is wrong in my kingdom-state,” the Prince shared his impressions of what he saw and heard.
The Kingconsidered it for a moment. He was a smartKing, he said: “The state treasury is replenished by taxes and the more money there is, the richer the state will be. The treasury money is used for the military. The more money there is, stronger the military is. Only in this case will other countries not dare to attack us,”the Kingexplained to Alexei.
“I agree with you. However, we should not forget about our subjects: ordinary people, those who replenish the state treasury,”Prince Alexeiexpressed his opinion.
No one had ever dared to say such words to the King or express their opinion. The King thought again and, since he was smart and sensible, he agreed with Prince Alexei: “What needs to be done to improve the situation you’ve been talking about?”
“Things cannot be fixed quickly,”Prince Alexei was pondering. Then, having thought, he said: “Let us first build schools and hospitals. Let the best of the best become scientists some time in the future, and come up with something that will make people's work easier. And now we need to check whether taxes are being collected correctly. Are they embezzling moneyfrom the treasury? There is a lot that needs to be done.”
The King listened to Alexeiin amazement. “I live like a King, but I govern the state like a serf. And this guy, less than a week ago he became the Prince, and already talks as if HE is the King,” the King said to himself.
The King became scared. What if Prince Alexei wanted to dethrone him, the King, in order to seize power? And since the King was smart after all, he decided to appoint Prince Alexei as King and give him half his kingdom-state. And he himself would retire. There would be time to read books and travel. And so he did.
And what about the Princess? She turned from the Princess Never-A-Smileinto a grumpy and evilPrincess. In the palace, behind her back, they called her the Princess The-Evil.
The King, watching her transformation, was very upset. After all, he tried all the means: he gave her all the outfits, she had jewelry with stones from all over the world, he fulfilled her every wish.
In the end, he realized that his daughter’s flaws could not be remedied. She would remain what she had been all her life: lazy, silly and capricious.
But he could not rejoice enough at his son-in-law, the new King of the renewing state.
I interviewed the King-father. He told me this story. What advice did he give us all?
1. No one will cheer you up if you don't know how to cheer yourself up.
2. No one will make you happy if you don't know how to be happy yourself. Be happy yourself and doing that you’d attract happy people to yourself.
3. It’s useless to wait for a special day as a way to start a new life. Learn to enjoy life without a special day, because not a single holiday, even the most awesome one, will not provide us with something we are not ready for.
Eminent guests came from all over the world to the wedding: Kings, kings, Princes and Princesses. The guests sang and danced for three days and three nights at the wedding. They were having so much fun that all the chairs became rickety, and some were even broken. Eventually the wedding was over. The guests left. The most ordinary royal everyday life began - boring and uninteresting. The Prince who married the Princess Never-A-Smile and received half the kingdom-state as a result of his marriage had a very ordinary name: Alexei. The very next morning after the wedding, Alexei began to tidy up the entire palace and began, of course, with the chairs and tables.
The King was amazed and grumbled: “This is not a job for a member of a royal family. Not at all.”
Alexei just smiled and went on doing his job. He had skillful fingers. They missed work so much. Work was not a burden for him, but a joy. In three days,the work was completed in the palace. Even the benches and swings on the lawn in front of the palace were repaired.
And the Princess was not in the best of her moods. Hermood turned gloomy again. She is sitting for days on end crying.
Prince Alexei asked her: “My dear wife, maybe you'll go for a walk? Look at the wonderful weather, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the flowers are fragrant.”
“I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to,” the Princess petulantly pouted her tender, pink lips and let out streams of tears.
“If you don't want to go for a walk, then do something. For example, embroider.” ThePrince advised. “I remember my mother was quite the craftswoman,” he said proudly.
“I don't know how to do it, I don't want to do it, I won't...,” the Princess cried.
The Prince remembered how heartily his grandmother sang, and suggested that she sings the song "In the Field Stood a Birch Tree" along with him.
“I can't, I don't want to, I won't...,” the Princess continued insisting.
“My God! What can you do and what do you want to do then?” Alexey exclaimed after several attempts to occupy the Princess with something interesting. He even began to sweat after making effortsto occupy her with anything at all.
“Tell me something interesting. I'm bored!” the Princess said, yawning.
“Yes, yes, of course,” the Prince was delighted. “I'll tell you about the times when I worked for the master,”Prince Alexey began.
“No! I don't want to hear about it. It's not interesting,” the Princess began to sob again. “You must entertain me and make me laugh. Are you my husband or not?!” the Princess screamed.
“Yes, I am your husband, but not a clown or a harlequin,”Prince Alexei was offended. He turned and left the room, where his wife remained sitting in a chair crying.
His head was literally swollen from thoughts of "how to help my poor thing, my wife?" However, having thought for a while, he collected his thoughts and decided that he would make a decision about his wife later, but now he needed to deal with state affairs.
Prince Alexei came to the King’s chamber:
“Your Royal Highness! Please let me address you with a request!
“Please, do” the King answered affably. He loved his son-in-law Alexei very much. He saw in him the King to-be, his successor to the throne - businesslike, hard-working, independent. For now, Alexei had only half the kingdom-state, which the King gave him as a dowry.
“King-father, let me ride around my half-kingdom-state. I want to see how my people live and struggle for their life.”
“What are you talking about, son?My people live well. They live and enjoy life. And they regularly pay to the public coffers. Don't fuss in vain, will you? Live in the palace. Have fun and entertain my daughter and you will be happy,”The King tried to dissuade Alexei from the venture.
“King-father, I can't sit on my hands doing nothing. I'm not used to it. And I don't know how else to amuse the Princess. After all, you couldn't either, and tried every possible means, didn’t you?” Alexei reproached the King.
“That's true,” the King sighed heavily. “Well, fine. You can go. Just come back soon.”
Alexei mounted the best horse in the state and, accompanied by the same young men as himself, galloped across the lands of his half-kingdom-state. They gallopedon and on, and ahead of them was a field. Farmerswerelaboring in the field. The Prince drew reins, dismounted the horse, and started talking to the farmers: “Is this your field?”
“No, it’s not” the farmers answered.
“Whose field is it?” the Prince asked again.
“Our landowner's. We planted wheat in the field, now we are mowing and harvesting. We will give half of the harvest to the owner, and keep the other half for ourselves,” the farmers explained.
“However, for one landowner, half of the harvest is a lot, and for you it’s very little,” the Prince was surprised.
“What can we do? If we refuse, we will not get even half of it and our families will die of hunger. You are a traveler, be on your way, and do not distract us. We work from dawn to dusk and have no time for talking. While the weather is good, we must work. Farewell!” the people were talking irritably, getting back to work.
“Goodbye!” Alexei replied, saddling his horse. He rode on.
And then he saw the same picture in the second village, and in the third, and in the fourth.
In one meadow he saw cows grazing. He got off his horse so as not to disturb the herd and went to the herdsman. The herdsman, seeing that someone was coming towards him, was glad, at least he could chat with someone, otherwise he was tired of being silent with the cows.
“Hello. What is your name?” the Prince addressed the herdsman.
“I am Ivan,” the man answered cheerfully.
“Is this your herd?”the Princeasked.
“These cows belong to the farmers,” the herdsmananswered.
“The farmers of this village live well,” the Prince was delighted.
“Well, only they give half of all their milk to the master. He has a cheese factory. The workers make cheese there, and the owner takes it to sell it in the city,” the shepherd explained.
“Good for him. He must be payinga lot of money to the farmers for the milk he gets from them,” the Prince was even more delighted.
“No way!” the shepherd was glad to talk about anything, just to talk. He had a loose tongue. “The land, on which these cows graze, belongs to the master. The farmers pay with milk for the grass that the cows eat in his meadows.”
“Bless my soul!” The Prince was indignant. “We should pay a visit tothemaster.”
He said goodbye to the herdsman and galloped to the nearest estate of the owner of the fields. When he approachedthe house of the master he saw a huge mansion with carved windows and an iron roof. A porch with massive beautiful railings led into the house. The servants who met the guests were ordered to notify the owners of the house about the arrival of Prince Alexei.
The owner of the house immediately came out to meet the honourableguests. He was heavyset, with a large, round belly, a square face and small, cunning eyes. Seeing the Prince, he reached out to kiss his hands, but the Prince, understanding his intention, quickly moved his hands behind his back, which incredibly surprised the owner of the house.
A few minutes later, the Prince was brought into the house and seated at the table. The table was laden with all sorts of delicacies: there was overseas caviar and exotic fruits and vegetables. The Prince marveled at the master's royal wealth and asked him point-blank:
“Why do you, Ivan Makarych, take half of the harvest the farmers collect and half of all the milk they provide you with?”
“Well, half of that half...,” the master stumbled for a second and continued, “and the King's treasurer takes another half of the half for the state treasury,” he explained.
The Princewent around half the kingdom-state. It was the same situation everywhere. Poor farmers and rich landowners and court nobility, and in the citiesthere are rich merchants.
The Prince returned to the palace and went straight to the King:
“King-father, something is wrong in my kingdom-state,” the Prince shared his impressions of what he saw and heard.
The Kingconsidered it for a moment. He was a smartKing, he said: “The state treasury is replenished by taxes and the more money there is, the richer the state will be. The treasury money is used for the military. The more money there is, stronger the military is. Only in this case will other countries not dare to attack us,”the Kingexplained to Alexei.
“I agree with you. However, we should not forget about our subjects: ordinary people, those who replenish the state treasury,”Prince Alexeiexpressed his opinion.
No one had ever dared to say such words to the King or express their opinion. The King thought again and, since he was smart and sensible, he agreed with Prince Alexei: “What needs to be done to improve the situation you’ve been talking about?”
“Things cannot be fixed quickly,”Prince Alexei was pondering. Then, having thought, he said: “Let us first build schools and hospitals. Let the best of the best become scientists some time in the future, and come up with something that will make people's work easier. And now we need to check whether taxes are being collected correctly. Are they embezzling moneyfrom the treasury? There is a lot that needs to be done.”
The King listened to Alexeiin amazement. “I live like a King, but I govern the state like a serf. And this guy, less than a week ago he became the Prince, and already talks as if HE is the King,” the King said to himself.
The King became scared. What if Prince Alexei wanted to dethrone him, the King, in order to seize power? And since the King was smart after all, he decided to appoint Prince Alexei as King and give him half his kingdom-state. And he himself would retire. There would be time to read books and travel. And so he did.
And what about the Princess? She turned from the Princess Never-A-Smileinto a grumpy and evilPrincess. In the palace, behind her back, they called her the Princess The-Evil.
The King, watching her transformation, was very upset. After all, he tried all the means: he gave her all the outfits, she had jewelry with stones from all over the world, he fulfilled her every wish.
In the end, he realized that his daughter’s flaws could not be remedied. She would remain what she had been all her life: lazy, silly and capricious.
But he could not rejoice enough at his son-in-law, the new King of the renewing state.
I interviewed the King-father. He told me this story. What advice did he give us all?
1. No one will cheer you up if you don't know how to cheer yourself up.
2. No one will make you happy if you don't know how to be happy yourself. Be happy yourself and doing that you’d attract happy people to yourself.
3. It’s useless to wait for a special day as a way to start a new life. Learn to enjoy life without a special day, because not a single holiday, even the most awesome one, will not provide us with something we are not ready for.