The prince that wouldn't be a prince
For Jaya and Keira
Once upon a time, long, long ago in a country far,far away. A country called Wales, there lived a prince. The prince of Wales obviously.
His name was Daffyd, and prince Daffyd lived in the lovely village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, in a cute little palace,
together with his father who happened to be the king of Wales, his mother, apparently the queen of Wales, and his dog called Nose.
Well, prince Daffyd didn’t look quite as a prince. Princes in fairy tales are usually tall, handsome and strong. They ride beautiful white horses,
most often they have long curly hair, they wear elegant clothes and every woman will say "Oh,what a handsome prince he is". But Daffyd… he was small,
chubby, with spiky hair and a weird nose. But nevertheless, Daffyd was friendly, modest and always helpful. Everybody in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
was very fond of the young prince.
Every morning at sunrise Daffyd would get up, drink a cup of tea and eat toast with Marmite and then walked into the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
with his dog called Nose, where he bought a newspaper for his father. He was the king of Wales so he had to know everything, that’s why he read the newspaper every day.
After that, he went to the florist, Mrs. Flawse, and bought a red rose for his mummy, because he loved her so much.
So life was quite nice in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Years went by and prince Daffyd grew older, but unfortunately not taller.
Anyway, one beautiful day, prince Daffyd and the dog called Nose went for a walk just before tea when they saw a girl who was wearing a donkey on her back.
Prince Daffyd and the dog called Nose had actually never seen a girl with a donkey on her back. As she came closer, prince Daffyd got curious. The dog called Nose didn’t know what to think about it and just barked.
"Hi, girl with a donkey on your back", said prince Daffyd as she came near him. The girl with a donkey on her back smiled, looked around en put the donkey down.
"Hi there, my name is Maeve, and this is Archibald, he is a donkey as you can see".
They shook hands and prince Daffyd saw the most lovely smile he had ever seen.
"My name is Daffyd and this is my dog called Nose", he replied.
"Where are you going, if I may ask?"
"We came from Bangor and are on our way to Anglesey, we are going to live with my auntie Myfanwy. And you, do you live here Daffyd?"
"I do, in fact I live here with my parents. Would you like to join me for tea at my mothers?"
Maeve looked at the clouds and thought for a second.
"Well, we might do that. We are a little tired, it's al long walk from Bangor to Anglesey, a nice cuppa would do no harm, don’t you think Archibald?"
She looked at the donkey who nodded wisely.
"Come on then, it’s only a short walk to my home".
After a while, Daffyd dared to pop the question: "Tell me please, Maeve, why are you carrying a donkey on your back?"
"Oh that’s obvious" replied Maeve, "we travel together, Archibald carries me on his back and if he is getting tired, we swap places and I carry him on my back. That’s only fair, isn’t it?"
"I guess you are right", said Daffyd and he admitted to himself that he had never thought about it this way.
Together they walked to the edge of the lovely village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch and soon they saw the cute little palace.
"There it is", pointed Daffyd
Maeve looked a little surprised. How could she suspect that this little chubby guy lived in a palace?
"Whose palace is this?" asked Maeve.
"My parents" replied Daffyd, my daddy is the king of Wales en my mother is then the queen of Wales obviously".
Maeve stood still for a second, looked him in the eyes to see if he was joking. But she saw that Daffyd had the most honest eyes she had ever seen
(maybe except for Archibald the donkey), an she suddenly realised that he didn't make a joke.
"So you are the prince of Wales?" she asked.
"Uh-huh"
Her face turned into one big smile.
"Cool!" she said.
And then they walked on for it was almost tea time.
Daffyd’s mother, the queen of Wales, was very pleased that Daffyd had brought Maeve and Archibald to the palace. She called her husband to join them for tea,
and together they had tea with scones and lemon curd, Archibald and the dog called Nose played together on the lawn and it was a joyful afternoon.
But unfortunately, after a while Maeve stood up.
"Thank you for your hospitality, but we have to go on. My aunt Myfanwy is awaiting us and we want to be there before sunset."
Maeve gave all of them a hug, Archibald wagged his tail to say goodbye and they walked away. And Daffyd thought that he would never see Maeve again
Days went by and Daffyd thought that he would forget about Maeve. Actually, she went to live in Anglesey, and Daffyd never went to Anglesey.
But now and then, about 27 times a day and every minute he had to think about Maeve, the girl with the donkey on her back. The donkey called Archibald. And sometimes when Daffyd was sitting on the shore of the little river near his home, he would stare into the water for a long, long time and then see Maeves smile in the water.
After many days Daffyd’s mother, the queen of Wales, became worried.
"O my little Daffyd", she said to her husband, the king of Wales, "he is so silent, I often can’t reach him. He’s just sitting, looking in the water together with the dog called Nose.
I think he fell in love with Maeve, the girl who was carrying a donkey on her back".
"Oh nonsense," said the king," Maeve is just a common girl, nothing for our son who in fact is the prince of Wales. One day he will have to marry a princess, I heard that in the Netherlands they have a nice one."
And again, days and days went by, days became weeks and weeks became months, as Daffyd still was only thinking about Maeve, the girl who carried a donkey on her back.
But then, on a Christmas eve, the queen of Wales, Daffyd’s mother, went to her husband.
"Oliver," she said, "this has gone too far too long".
The king of Wales frowned, he was not used to people arguing with him. As a matter of fact he was a king…
"Our son Daffyd is still in love with that Maeve girl, you know, the one that carried a donkey on her back. This has been since months now. The boy sits just silent, looking at the water. They should meet again."
The old king scratched his nose and you know, he hád quite a nose…
"Well all right then", he finally said, "send someone for Maeve and her donkey".
The next day a messenger came to tell that Maeve was on her way from Anglesey to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch with her donkey.
So a couple of days later Maeve came to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, together with Archibald.
They all walked together through the village, Daffyd, Maeve, Archibald and the dog called Nose. And everybody said: "Hey what a nice couple".
In the evening Maeve had to go home with Archibald. They held hands and said: "See you soon".
Days went by and after a few Daffyd went to his father, the King of Wales and said to him:
"Father, my King, I want to marry the beautifil lady Maeve from Anglesey".
The King scratched his beard.
"But son," he said, "that’s impossible. You are a prince, you must marry a princess. In the Netherlands they have a nice one, I heard".
"Oh, in that case I don’t want to be prince anymore", Daffyd said and walked away. He went to the post office in the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
"Good morning, mailman," he said to the mailman.
"Good morning, Daffyd my prince," said the mailman.
"Oh no,"said Daffyd, "I am no prince anymore. I want to work as a mailman. Can you use one?"
The mailman thought deeply and finally said: "As a matter of fact I could use an extra mailman".
So Daffyd got out of bed early every day, walked to the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch with his dog called Nose, got mail and delivered it.
One day he got a letter to be delivered for the King of Wales.
So Daffyd and his dog called Nose went to the palace , to his father.
"Father," he said, "I do have a letter for you".
The King of Wales was surprised.
"Why are YOU giving me this letter?"
"My father, I am a mailman nowadays. Because when I am a mailman I can get a morgage, buy a nice little house and ask Maeve from Anglesey to marry me."
The King thought that it was a ridiculous idea.
"Wife," he said to his wife, the Queen of Wales, "our son refuses to be a prince. Who will be my successor one day?"
"Oh Oliver, for Gods sake", replied the Queen of Wales, "let the boy marry the girl that was carrying a donkey on her back!"
"Impossible," said the King, "it’s a tradition. He must marry a princess. I heard they have a nice one in the Netherlands".
"Rubbish," said the Queen, "you are the king, you make the rules and when you say Daffyd and Maeve can marry, so be it".
The King just mumbled something and went for a walk in the garden.
He thought that it was ridiculous that his son would work just like ordinary people do, live in a house just like ordinary people do and be happy just like ordinary people….. oh, wait, stop right there….
Suddenly he realised that it was quite important that his son would be happy. Daffyd was willing to give up the throne to marry a girl that carried a donkey on her back.
I think, he thought, my wife is right. As a matter of fact, my wife is always right…
He called al his ministers and said: "I just changed the law. The Prince of Wales from now on is entitled to marry anyone he wants to. Be it a Dutch princess, a peasant girl or a nice boy. As long as he is happy"
And so it happened.
Daffyd went to Anglesey with his dog called Nose, asked Maeve, the girl who carried a donkey on her back to marry him. Of course she said yes and so they married
one day in the town hall of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch and had a big party afterwards. Daffyd and Maeve, the King and Queen of Wales,
the dog called Nose, Archibald the donkey and all the people and animals of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch danced and cheered and ate marshmellows.
And the lived long and happy
Oh, and Daffyd liked his job as a mailman so much that he, even later when he became King of Wales, kept working as a mailman