Once Upon This Time

There was once a king with 10 daughters. Each daughter, from the first to the last, was beautiful in body and spirit, well-educated and talented. Some played sports, some danced, sang or played instruments. A few of the daughters enjoyed cooking or gardening. Like all people, the daughters had flaws, but they were good-tempered and willing to learn and grow.

One day, the King decided to find husbands for his goodly daughters, for they had a desire to be married, but would only marry princely men of whom their father approved. The King sent out messages throughout all the world to the princes of noble character.

Presently, three princes arrived. The King happily paired each one with one of his daughters and sent them back to their kingdoms in joy.

There were still seven daughters unaccounted for, though. They waited and waited.

After a while, the King decided to send out another invitation, inviting the noble princes of nearby kingdoms to choose a bride. This time no one came except the messengers bearing the princes' replies:

One Prince responded:
"I am too busy to take a wife."
Another:
"She will be too much trouble- No thanks!"
And also:
"I am fighting a war, a wife requires too much commitment"
And possibly worst of all:
"I can rule my kingdom on my own, thank you."

Upon hearing these messages, the King became angry and the remaining daughters were terribly discouraged.
In hopes that he could inspire the princes to reconsider, the King sent out messengers again, this time with a list of benefits of gaining a wife of such caliber as his daughters.

~She will show you respect and encourage you when you are worn out from fighting or ruling
~She will keep you company at night, be an ear to listen and a voice to challenge you
~She will look after the affairs of your castle so that when you are out fighting battles or seeing to the needs of the Kingdom, you will have nothing to fear
~She will be able to offer wisdom and laughter to lighten your load and your subjects will be happier because of her gracious presence in your kingdom.

Finally, two more princes were convinced and traveled to the King to take one of his daughters as a wife.

Still, there were five daughters left in his household and they were practically despairing of ever marrying. At this point, even the lowly subjects of the kingdoms, the surly men who lived distasteful lives were begging to marry the King's daughters, but the King refused and his daughters couldn't bear the thought of marrying a man who wasn't a son of a King. They tried busying themselves in serving the people of their kingdom and even learned to fight in case the kingdom were ever attacked and there were no men around to protect them. Their father could see that they were still longing for husbands, though, so he sent out yet another message to the surrounding kingdoms, even offering great rewards to those who came to marry his beautiful, kind daughters.

Alas, the Princes still made excuses and sent back this final reply:

A wife is too much commitment. A woman is not worth having in my life. I don't care how fine or virtuous a woman is. They are not worth fighting for or committing to.