The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1901-01-29
Wise MAN FOOLED
An Invitation to Become Members Of
Royal Household.
AN INTERESTING fable and A moral
Knowing Idiot Lays Subtle Plan
to Woo and Win Pretty Mai.
den But Fails.

gether, arrived one day in a pleasant !
land that was ruled over by king who
had two daughters. In this land there
were no princes or dukes that the king
could receive as son-ip-law, all the
raw material having been cornered by
girls from Cincinnati, New York, Cali
fornia and Bay City, Mich, and so the
kings daughters pined for love.
One of the maidens was tall and
stately. Her voice was as the tinkle OF
the shears grinders little bell, and she
was passing fair to look upon. The
other was plump and pretty, but dis
tinctly not Gibson kind.
And it befell that while the wise man
and the fool tarried in the kings realm
Q war was declared against him by the
duke who had castle in an adjoining
township and wanted a strip OF terri
tory whose inhabitants were able to pay
their taxes to the king semi-annually
in real money.
Then the wise man laid plans for the
undoing OF the duke, ard tt" foul led
the kings army in the field, and what
with the wise mans strategy and the
FOOLS daring the duke was soon com
PEELED to yield a coaling station to the
king and agree to an open-door policy.
So the king spoke onto the wise man and
the fool, saying:
"Forasmuch as ye have enabled me
to pump the tobasco into the duke !
will give ye my daughters to be your
wives. Go now and win their hearts,
and may ye all be happy ever after
ward"
Now, it fortuned that the fool was a
handsome man. His hair would stay
parted all day; and he was big and well
proportioned; and having been captain
of the Eighth Ohio Regiment he was
entitled to wear a uniform. He was
the cynosure of all the goo-goo eyes in
the kingdom.
The wise man, on the other hand, was
not an Adonis; the lines of thought
made his face like a map of the pro-
posed electric railways in Stark county,
and every little while his necktie would
work itself over the top Of his collar
behind. Being wise, he knew that the
fool had but to choose which of the
kings daughters he wanted, and, more
over, he had no doubt that the stately
beautiful princess-the one he desired
for his own wife-would be the fools
first choice.
Therefore the wise man laid subtle
plan whereby the superb maiden would
be left for himself. Taking the fool
aside, he said:
1--WE are invited to become members
of the kings household. His daughters
wait for US to WOO and win them,
hence II remains crly for US to agree
between ourselves which of them each
tall man and l am not. One of the
maidens Is tall and beautiful. The
other is pretty, and-we might say roly-
poly. You can see for youself that the
pretty little princess is naturally the one
for me, while the stately beautiful one
should be your choice. You and she
would be handsome couple. Think
how you would loom up in the grand
march! What do you say? Shall
try to win the pretty little one while you
WOO her queenly sister? Come is It
agreed?"
The fool, as the wise man had fore
seen became possessed of a strong pre-
ference FOR the pretty little princess
the morent he began 10 suspect that
another preferred her above her sister,
and instead of entering into an agree
ment he hurried away found the viva
cious maiden trying to hold down at the
seventh greer, and began making love
to her with all hs might.
The wise man followed discreetly, saw
what was going on and rubbed his
hands with satisfaction. From the first
he had loved the stately princess, and
with the fool and her sister safely mar
ried happiness would be within his
grasp.
But he did not sit down, content to
let the scheme work itself out alone
Day after day he sought the little prin-
cess and hattered her and made love to
her, and whetted the jealousy of the
fool. Meantime the beautiful sister
was left to mediate alone, and the king
and all the household marvelled that
neither of the travellers seemed to ap-
preciate her loveliness.
The rivalry of the wise man and the
fool was Of short duration. In a few
days 1t was announced that the hand
some fool and the pretty little thing"
were to be married, The wise man pre-
tended to be downcast until the cere-
mony was over. Then, with a bounding
heart, he went to the maiden of his
choice and lifted the purse without even
stretch of the neck, because there
were no other entries.
Instead, however, of being supremely
happy at the success of his diplomacy
he got away by himself, after the hon
eymoon. and brooded. His wife had
been won with too much ease. Nobody
else had tried to get her; nobody else,
80 far as he knew, would have had her.
Wasn't there little to much OF her,
I. ffter all. He compared his lily with the
f0ol's rose and sighed. The laugh of the
beautiful, stately princess, ceased, some
how, to be as silvery tingle in his
ears. and he didn't like the way her
bridged tooth was put In, on the left
side.