Prince Daffodil and His Very Large Nose

Prince Daffodil had been born

With the biggest nose

Anybody in the kingdom

Had ever seen

This had been foretold

By the village foreteller

Who told anyone who would listen

That the next prince

Would have quite the proboscis

But unfortunately

This was before dictionaries

So nobody knew

What a proboscis was

You see, when the Prince’s father, the King

Was courting his mother, the Queen

He could not win her favor

And so he went to the kingdom’s most noteworthy

Love Fairy, deep in the forest

To ask for her help

She took pity on the lovestruck royal

And told him that he could win the heart

Of his beloved

And all he would have to do

Is step on the tail of her cat

Well, unbeknownst to the King

The Love Fairy was also a bit of a trickster

And she knew that the cat

Was actually the kingdom’s wizard

Posing as a cat

To look after the Princess

When the King stepped

On the cat’s tail

The cat transformed back

Into a wizard

And he was furious

He told the King

That the worst punishment

Would not be

Preventing the Princess

From falling in love with him

But instead

He would grant the King’s wish

Allow the Princess to fall for the King

And then one day

When they had a son

He would have the biggest nose

In the kingdom

But would not know it

Now, the King and future Queen

Kept this to themselves

But the foreteller foretold it

Nonetheless

The King assumed

The evil wizard was just

Trying to scare him

Because how could someone

Not know

The size of their own nose?

But the Prince was born

With a very large nose

And so as not to make him feel strange

His mother, the Queen,

Ordered that nobody should remark to him

About how unusual the size of his schnozz was

And that he would only be allowed

To play with children

Who also had large noses

And the men and women of the court

Would often tug on the noses

Of their children

To try and enlarge them

So they could become friendly

With the future ruler of the kingdom

Not only did the Prince

Not realize his nose was too big

But, in fact, he grew to believe

That his nose was beautiful

And that he was a very handsome young man

When he was old enough to marry

He was sent a photo

Of a princess from a neighboring kingdom

And while he found her

To be very pretty

He had to admit

That her nose seemed to be very small

His mother assured him

That small noses

Are appealing in many parts of the world

And the Prince agreed to marry the Princess

Should she have him

And when she was sent news

Of the Prince’s interest

She quickly consented to the match

The Prince traveled to the kingdom

To meet his new bride

But when he arrived

And saw her

Suddenly, the evil wizard appeared

Grabbed the princess by the hand

And disappeared

Into thin air

Prince Daffodil was devastated

He traveled to the forest

To find the Love Fairy

And ask for her help

In retrieving his love

By now, the Love Fairy

Was very old

Even by fairy standards

And she had to wear glasses

That kept slipping down her nose

The Prince thought

That her nose was far too small

And that was why her glasses

Kept slipping down

But when he remarked to her

That she would do better

With a nose like his

She commented to him

That his nose was far too big

And the two of them were both upset for a moment

Before they burst out laughing

At how each thought the other

Would prefer a different nose

When they were both perfectly happy

With the nose they had

The Love Fairy cannot bring back

His beloved princess

But she encourages him

To ride around looking for her

And that’s exactly what he does

The trouble is

Wherever he goes

People tell him

That his nose

Is far too large

Which he does not believe at all

And he assumes

That the world outside

The castle he grew up in

Is made up mad people

With noses

That are insufficient

And tiny

The Queen summons

Her old friend, the wizard

Who was pretending to be a cat

And demanded

That he give back

Her son’s betrothed

The wizard is very cross

But he agrees to return the princess

But only if Prince Daffodil

Recognizes his own shortcomings

The Queen thinks

This will be very difficult

As he has not been raised

To believe there is anything wrong with him

While she saw the value in that at the time

Because she did not want her child

To grow up feeling badly about him

She could also see that sometimes

A person must be made aware of their shortcomings

So they do not grow to believe

That they are perfect

Since even princes have their flaws

The evil wizard puts the princess

In a glass home

And creates a storm

That moves Prince Daffodil

Towards the glass home

When he arrives there

He has a feeling

That the princess is inside

But when he approaches the home

He sees, for the very first time,

His reflection

As other people would see it

‘My goodness,’ he exclaims, ‘I have a very large nose!’

Just then

The glass home shatters

And the princess runs to him

And the two embrace

And travel back to the prince’s kingdom together

Prince Daffodil and his new wife

Are very happy together

And while he still likes his nose

Just the way it is

He understands that not everyone sees him

The way he sees himself

And that he should never assume

Someone is not as attractive as him

Just because of what he has been told

About himself

And this is how the Prince

With the very large nose

Not only found love

For himself

But love for others

As well