Good evening, children. It's Granny Mcduff, ready with a story.

So make yourselves comfy and I'll begin.

Once upon a time, there lived a queen who had no children.

Every morning she wished for a child,

but none ever came.

One day, while she was in the garden where the wild beasts roamed,

her fairy godmother paid her a visit.

I have been watching over you since you were just a wee baby,' she said.

"'Then why have I no baby, Fairy Godmother?

"'It is the only thing I have ever wanted.

"'I long for a child.'

"'Fret no longer, myieu, for a child will come.

A son with a gift.

Whatever he wishes for, he shall have.

The queen went to her husband the king and told him the news.

They rejoiced. And when the child was born, it was a boy.

They named him France. Every morning, the queen took her son to the gardens where the wild beasts roamed.

She would bathe him there in the stream.

It was the clearest water you'd ever seen. When Franz was almost a year old, his mother fell

asleep with him in her arms. The old cook, who knew about Franz's power of wishing, came in and took the child.

He took the blood of a chicken and put some on the queen's apron.

Then he hid the boy away and told the king that the queen had let the wild beasts eat the baby.

...