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[Gadsden1st]

FR is a just a shadow of its old self. I remember the good old days when a cheese or moose bitting a sister was good for a couple of hundred at least. I gotta take a shower!

[bert]

In case you missed this on an earlier thread
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Many years ago, in a kingdom far far away on the Great Gobi desert, there lived a great king with a daughter surpassing all others in beauty and in riches. Young men swarmed around the court like autumn bees to honey.

The king was feeling old and became worried. What must he do to protect his wealth, his daughter and his kingdom from the unworthies? He called a meeting of his trusted advisers and received all sorts of worthless and often biased counsel. He abandoned the meeting.

He finally decided that no man should have his daughter and hatched a diabolical plot. He would give the hand of his daughter to the young man who could pass an impossible test. Those who tried but failed would suffer death at the hands of the executioner.

He decided that the announcement should be made, not by him but by his chamberlain a man of wisdom and greatly respected by his subjects. The chamberlain was wise, but was handicapped by a slight speech impediment.

On the occasion of the announcement that he who presented the king with that most rare object a desert dew drop would marry the princess, the chamberlain uttered not dew drop but blublop.

The gathered subjects uttered a collective gasp of awe. At last the problem was solved . But what the wondered was the great king seeking. What or where was a blublop?
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Snip
omit many stories of young men who journey far and back only to be executed.
(it is possible to expand this tale greatly)
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Then one morning a very handsome young man appeared in court. He was from the far Provence and rudely clothed. His speech was pure but not up to courtly standard. He carried a large box, covered in the finest cloth of lapis blue and stitched with golden thread. He requested an audience and boldly declared “I have fulfilled your requirement and insist on the hand of your most beautiful and comely daughter”

The daughter giggled and squirmed in delight and approval. The king smiled at the bold effrontery. He accepted the box and ripped off the cloth and tore open the box

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snip
omit the layers of mahogany and alabaster and silver nested boxes within
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What he discovered at last was a small rounded pebble and a chalice of the finest crystal. There was no dew drop. There was no blublop. There was failure.

The king was being made to be a fool. He was about to call for the executioner when the bold young and very handsome young man stepped forward two steps then down on one knee pleaded “ Your gracious majesty, the ruler of the kingdom for as far as can be seen, please allow me to be of assistance and soothe you worried mind. Please bring me a cup of the purest spring fed water in the Kingdom.”

The king was taken aback by the forward young man but the gasps of the courtiers made him aware that this was no ordinary young man nor one who fit the pattern of those now dead. He also knew that he had no finely pure water from a spring. Rather than say no, he responded. We have no pure spring fed water , but I do have some water from snow melt from our highest mountains. The purity is unquestioned. Will that suffice?”

The handsome young nan winced slightly but said “ Thank you your majesty for offering a wonderful solution to the problem. I am sure the pure snow melt will be very adequate”.

The king clapped his hands and ordered the water. It was produced immediately is a golden pitcher on a tray of the finest alabaster. The king then asked “ Are you prepared to die?”

The young man smiled and looking eye to eye with the stunningly rich and beautiful daughter said “Your gracious majesty, death is not a possibility. I have come for your daughter and your kingdom.”

He stood, strode to the table, took the golden pitcher in hand and poured the crystal chalice full to the brim being careful not to allow it to over flow. The courtiers gasped and then went totally silent as the handsome young man grasped the totally round, but common creek pebble and held it up for all to see. He then dropped it into the snow melt contained in the crystal chalice.

Then there was a smile on the face of the king. There was a sigh from the daughter and the courtiers all erupted in hurrahas and merriment. Everyone present knew the terrible problem was resolved. The handsome young man would live and the Beautiful daughter would marry. The worries of the king were over.

All knew this to be true because in the silence of the moment, when the pebble was dropped into the pure snow melt water there was heard the unmistakable sound of Blu-Blop as the pebble hit the water.

Thus ends happily the plight of the worried king and the rich daughter

[Delta 21]