won't be king--so there!"

"But you must be the King, your Majesty, whether you want to or not.
The law says so."

"If that 's the case," returned the King, "I can do as I please in
other things. So you just run and get me a bowl of punch, there 's a
good fellow."

The aged minister did not like to be addressed thus, but the King's
commands must be obeyed; so, although the court was greatly horrified,
he brought the bowl of punch, and the King pushed his crown onto the
back of his head and drank heartily, and smacked his lips afterwards.

"That 's fine!" he said; "but say--what do you people do to amuse
yourselves?"

"Whatever your Majesty commands," answered one of the councilors.

"What! must I amuse you as well as myself? Methinks it is no easy
task to be a King if so many things are required of me. But I suppose
it is useless to fret, since the law obliges me to reign in this great
country against my will. Therefore will I make the best of my
misfortune, and propose we have a dance, and forget our cares. Send at
once for some fiddlers, and clear the room for our merrymaking, and
for once in our lives we shall have a jolly good time!"

So one of the officers of the court went out and soon returned with
three fiddlers, and when at the King's command they struck up a tune,
the monarch was delighted, for every fiddler had a very fine fiddle