Light Princess, The

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h1> THE LIGHT PRINCESS </h1> <h3> by </h3> <h2> GEORGE MACDONALD </h2> <hr/> <SPAN name="chap01"></SPAN> <h3> 1. What! No Children? </h3> <p>Once upon a time, so long ago that I have quite forgotten the date, there lived a king and queen who had no children.</p> <p>And the king said to himself, "All the queens of my acquaintance have children, some three, some seven, and some as many as twelve; and my queen has not one. I feel ill-used." So he made up his mind to be cross with his wife about it. But she bore it all like a good patient queen as she was. Then the king grew very cross indeed. But the queen pretended to take it all as a joke, and a very good one too.</p> <p>"Why don't you have any daughters, at least?" said he. "I don't say sons; that might be too much to expect."</p> <p>"I am sure, dear king, I am very sorry," said the queen.</p> <p>"So you ought to be," retorted the king; "you are not going to make a virtue of that, surely."</p> <p>But he was not an ill-tempered king, and in any matter of less moment would have let the queen have her own way with all his heart. This, however, was an affair of state.</p> <p>The queen smiled.</p> <p>"You must have patience with a lady, you know, dear king," said she.</p> <p>She was, indeed, a very nice queen, and heartily sorry that she could not oblige the king immediately.</p> <br/><br/><br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />