frog&fog (11)
Someone told me that a crown was a crushing burden for the mediocre,
but when placed upon the head of a genius, it was light and comfortable, like a laurel wreath.
Even with thorns strewn across the path, he could still see the road ahead with perfect clarity.
Yet all I saw was a castle in ruins.
I asked around,
and someone told me that a king had once lived here.
He had once been the wisest of men.
I asked him what had happened to this kingdom.
Had that wise man become foolish?
Or had a powerful enemy invaded?
The man told me no, it was because of love. This king had a daughter of peerless beauty.
She was shyer and lovelier than a May rosebud.
"She should marry a king,"
her father said, but the suitors who came upon hearing the news did not agree.
The world was filled with false kings who called themselves kings.
These mediocre men were utterly unworthy of wearing a crown.
What difference was there between marrying his daughter to a false king and marrying her to a swindler?
Or was he merely marrying his daughter to a title?
How could he call himself wise when he could not tell truth from falsehood?
The suitors broke into a brawl, and the king's kingdom and castle were destroyed along with it.
During the fight, a devil cast a spell on her and sent her into slumber.
The long summer would never end, and neither would her beauty.
I asked the man whether the princess was still sleeping in the castle.
The man said yes. "You must be a prince."
I told him, "No, I am a poet seeking to seize the laurel wreath."
Severus glared furiously at the poem in his