Children Stories - The Rat Princess

To the moon. To the sun. To the skies. To the waters. Stars, let your fire burn. Winds let your strength grow. Let us unite. Let me shine bright. ... Read more of CHANT FOR GOOD LUCK AND WELL BEING at White Magic.ca

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THE RAT PRINCESS

from Children Stories To Tell - For Classes Ii. And Iii.

Once upon a time, there was a Rat Princess, who lived with her father, the
Rat King, and her mother, the Rat Queen, in a ricefield in far away Japan.
The Rat Princess was so pretty that her father and mother were quite
foolishly proud of her, and thought no one good enough to play with her.
When she grew up, they would not let any of the rat princes come to visit
her, and they decided at last that no one should marry her till they had
found the most powerful person in the whole world; no one else was good
enough. And the Father Rat started out to find the most powerful person in
the whole world. The wisest and oldest rat in the ricefield said that the
Sun must be the most powerful person, because he made the rice grow and
ripen; so the Rat King went to find the Sun. He climbed up the highest
mountain, ran up the path of a rainbow, and travelled and travelled across
the sky till he came to the Sun's house.

"What do you want, little brother?" the Sun said, when he saw him.

"I come," said the Rat King, very importantly, "to offer you the hand of
my daughter, the princess, because you are the most powerful person in the
world; no one else is good enough."

"Ha, ha!" laughed the jolly round Sun, and winked with his eye. "You are
very kind, little brother, but if that is the case the princess is not for
me; the Cloud is more powerful than I am; when he passes over me I cannot
shine."

"Oh, indeed," said the Rat King, "then you are not my man at all"; and he
left the Sun without more words. The Sun laughed and winked to himself.
And the Rat King travelled and travelled across the sky till he came to
the Cloud's house.

"What do you want, little brother?" sighed the Cloud when he saw him.

"I come to offer you the hand of my daughter, the princess," said the Rat
King, "because you are the most powerful person in the world; the Sun said
so, and no one else is good enough."

The Cloud sighed again. "I am not the most powerful person," he said;
"the Wind is stronger than I,--when he blows, I have to go wherever he
sends me."

"Then you are not the person for my daughter," said the Rat King proudly;
and he started at once to find the Wind. He travelled and travelled across
the sky, till he came at last to the Wind's house, at the very edge of the
world.

When the Wind saw him coming he laughed a big, gusty laugh, "Ho, ho!" and
asked him what he wanted; and when the Rat King told him that he had come
to offer him the Rat Princess's hand because he was the most powerful
person in the world, the Wind shouted a great gusty shout, and said, "No,
no, I am not the strongest; the Wall that man has made is stronger than I;
I cannot make him move, with all my blowing; go to the Wall, little
brother!"

And the Rat King climbed down the sky-path again, and travelled and
travelled across the earth till he came to the Wall. It was quite near his
own ricefield.

"What do you want, little brother?" grumbled the Wall when he saw him.

"I come to offer you the hand of the princess, my daughter, because you
are the most powerful person in the world, and no one else is good
enough."

"Ugh, ugh," grumbled the Wall, "I am not the strongest; the big grey Rat
who lives in the cellar is stronger than I. When he gnaws and gnaws at me
I crumble and crumble, and at last I fall; go to the Rat, little brother."

And so, after going all over the world to find the strongest person, the
Rat King had to marry his daughter to a rat, after all; but the princess
was very glad of it, for she wanted to marry the grey Rat, all the time.

Next: THE FROG AND THE OX
Previous: THE CAT AND THE PARROT

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THE RAT PRINCESS