Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-01-24
ORIGIN OF TIE PHU.OPENA.

This is the story of beautiful Ger
man Princess who was very fond of al
monds, and would not marry. In order
to carry out these intentions she hit upon
the following plan: When Prince pre-
sented himself as sutton for her hand
(ani legions of Princes came) she
would offer him an almond with twin
kernels. The Prince had TO eat one of
the kernels and she would eat the other.
Now" she would say, IF yoIr h Oh
ness can induce me To accept any thing
out of your hands without nv saving Il
remember, shall marry you; but if
can induce your highness to accept any
thing from my hands without YOUR say
Ing the saving words. then Your PRINCE
" head shall be clean shaver, and you
shall be dismissed forthwith from my
dominion.
There was trick in this proposal,
for court etiquette forbade any one
under penalty of dea,h--to present any
object directly to the beautiful Princess
The oh ect had TO be handed first to the
maid of honor. who would then hand it
herself to her royal mistress. But. on
the other hand, if the Princess chose to
take herself any oh Get. or hand it to
any one, who could forbid it? Thus
the poor su tors had a miserable time
oft. Try rs hard as they would to
tempt the Princess to accept any thing
from their hands, the ma d of honor
was sure to step in and spoil their very
best laid plans. Should the Princess,
on her side, W sh to get rid of a sutton.
she had only to be gracious to him and
bewitch him with Ter beauty and kind
ness. She wo Id offer HIM seat by
her side, and picking up something
lying near her, Il pomcSranate or an
egg, she would present it. with sweet
smile, and whisper softly: keep this
in memory of me-" AS soon,
W tn delight, would take the object in
his hands. and whilst ready. perhaps,
TO say the saving words, all at on e
would the object burst open, and out of
it would Jump a frog. or hornet or bat.
and fly in his face, causing him SO much
surprise and CONSERVATION that he
would forget to say the words. His
head would be shaved at once. and o.
he would be dismissed ANONYMOUSLY.
This had gone on for several years,
and all the palaces OF the land were
flied with young Princes wearing wigs
(the fashion OF wearing wigs ut court
dates therefrom) when Il foreign Prince.
travel ng incognito, happened to see
this beautiful almond Princess. He
found her beauty equal to her fame, and
being determin2 to win her for him.
self. he So Il scovered the rusc which
81, ho1 n,,,,,1nxnI -
Prince, more fortunate than the former
suitors, had talisman of his own, in
the shape of an apple given him by an
old wizard, friend of his family If
in case of great difficulty he won
smell the apple. Lri hit thought would
rush TO his mind, and way lie found
out of the difficu ty. The talisman
operated once a year only. The occur
renee, however. of one idea in every
twelve mOaths had properly ensured
to the Prince a fame for superior
mind amongst all the Kings of his ac-
quaintance! The time for using tie
tai sman having come round again. he
smelt the apple and this is the idea which
occurred to him: If you are to win
in this game OF giving aad taking, YOU
must never. under any circumstances,
either present any thing to the Princess
or accept any thing from her. He,
therefore, had his hands firmly tied in
his belt and accompanied by his
marshal he proceeded to the palace of
the Princess where he bravely an.
nonncci himself ready to lose his hair
AMI his life for the chance of winning
such priceless treasure. The Princess
WIS very much pleased with the
Princes appearance and with his
speech, and she ordered at once that a
doab'e almond be brought in. She ate
one Of the kernels and presented the
otter to tie Prince. At once the
marshal stepped up, took the almond
from her hands and paced it in the
Princes mouth.
The Princess wondered and asked
what this m ant; aso, why he always
carried his hands in his belt. Tie
Prince answered. that. alas, at his
coart the etiquette was even more Sc
we're 'han at her own. He was not per-
M ttef to take or give any thing with
h.. hands. but on ~ with his feet and
head, and that merely in ,ases of ex-
trme urgency. AT this the Princess
laughed and said: In this case we can
not even engage our forces in the con-
ing contest" The Prince shrugged
his shoulders and replied: "Not unless
you condescend to accept something
from my boots. That must never
be, exclaimed the whole court with
high Indignation. ''But why did YOU
come here?" added the Princess, an
grily. Il came because YOU are very
beautiful" replied the Prince. gently:
land if may not win you, shall still
have the happiness of feeding my eyes
uron your beauty" 81 can have no
Object on to that" re. oined the Prin-
ceas. Modified.
So the Prince remained at the Prin-
cess court and pleased her more and
more every day. But her desire to win
wss 80 great that she would try every
me ans in her power to entice him to
withdraw his hands from his belt and
take something from her. She re-
.msins1 constantly with him. engaged
il sweetest talks, and made him pres
ents Of flowers, bonbons, bottles,
and. finally, she even gave him her
fa,ori,e bracelet Time and again the
Pr nee wouli feel t':iiching in his
ta,,ds. but tho resistance offere | by the
bel. would bring HIM lack to his senses.
Then Is. would nod to his marshal, who
woaf came snG gather up all the pretty
pr0sAaA ssyiaS: I'VE remember"