The Seven Plaits of Nettles, and other stories

Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
EDRIC VREDENBURG.
ILLUSTRATED BY
T. NOYES LEWIS, HILDA COWHAM,
&c. , &c.
Raphael Tuck & Sons L td .
London · Paris · New York
Publishers to Their Majesties the King & Queen & to T.R.M., the Prince & Princess of Wales
Once upon a time there was a very bad King who ruled over a very good country.
It was a good country because the land was rich, and things grew well, and because the people worked hard and were thrifty and intelligent. The King was bad because he was terribly extravagant, because he spent fortunes upon fortunes on pleasure, because he gambled all the money in his mint away, and, with all this fearful spending, he never thought of giving anything to the poor. He was a very bad King indeed, just the meanest, poorest thing in kings that ever sat upon a throne!
When the King’s pockets were empty, and the treasury chest and mint were also empty, the only thing His Majesty could do was to increase the taxes. This he did on an average about every other fortnight, and the consequence was that his thrifty, hard-working people had to give all their money to pay the King’s debts. This the people did not in the least like doing, and the King was very unpopular indeed; in fact, matters went to such a pitch that his subjects would not bow to him when they met him in the streets of his capital.