Good evening, children.

It's Granny Madduff, ready with a story.

So make yourselves comfy, and I'll begin.

Once upon a time, there lived 12 servants,

who decided one day they were tired of their work and no longer wished to lift a finger.

So they went out into the field, lay down in the grass, and boasted to one another of their idleness.

The first said,

Oh, how lazy and lovely we are.

Keeping my health is most important.

Taking care of my body is my most important work.

I eat well.

Four meals a day.

When I am hungry, I eat.

And I despise waking with the sun, for by midday,

I'm already looking for a place to nap. It'd be better to wake at midday. That would suit me just

fine. If the duke calls, I'll just pretend not to hear him. When he calls a second time, I rise as slowly as I can.

And in this way, my life is acceptable to me.

The second said, I have a horse to look after.

The duke's very own.

I run a hand over him just once and there he is, combed and clean.

I feed him his oats, then go to sleep in his stall.

A comfy bed of hay he's got in there when he hasn't eaten it all.

...