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.
But the King did not seem to mind this one bit; he continued his extravagances and his wicked gambling, he cleared out the treasury chest more often than ever, and he taxed the people harder and harder every day.
But everything must come to an end sooner or later, you know, and it really seemed as if the end of that country had almost arrived, for the people began to starve, and such things as fires were only known in the houses of the richest. But the King borrowed money on his crown, sceptre, and family jewels, and went on anyhow, as usual.
Now it so happened that there lived in a suburb of the King’s city a very beautiful girl, whose name was Ellaleen. She lived in a nice house with her father and mother and brothers and sisters, and it was altogether a verynice family. Not only was it a good-looking, well-behaved family, but it was also a very healthy one, and had a very healthy appetite, which is perhaps a drawback when there is next to nothing to eat.
Well, Ellaleen took matters very much to heart. She objected to growing thinner every day, and it made her more miserable than she could express to see her father and her mother and her brothers and sisters all growing thinner, while each one pretended that he or she was not a bit hungry, so that others could have more. It made her wretched to see her suffering neighbours, and the poor peasants who soon became too sickly to work; and, indeed, what was the use of working when all the profits were taken away? Ellaleen felt as if she would have given her life to save her country!
