Who doesn’t love fairytales...glorious, gallant, gloomy, but somehow the soon-to-be prince always saves the day.

And this fairytale starts exactly that way...

Harold, a poor farmer’s son with grand dreams, saved the day...

Hurray !

For his heroic deeds, Harold was rewarded with the hand of a princess...

(And a written promise that he would soon rule the kingdom. He actually didn’t read the fine print, where it stated that as long as the old couple lived, THEY still ruled! But enough about that, the farmer’s son couldn’t really read...)

Lucky!

Harold smelled worse than a skunk, since it wasn’t customary to bathe in the countryside where he grew up. Even the flies, which

normally relish stink, fell down dead if they risked coming too near Harold. The boy was instantly ordered to take a bath. This chapter is actually something the publisher would rather skip over since it’s not customary to smear beautiful fairytales with such filth. This is

the dark reality behind the glamourous life of royals! The farmer had to be scrubbed clean.

It was a bit awkward for poor Harold, he was not only dirty, he had fleas!

...Eeeek ...yukk!!

And just like in every other classic fairytale that ends well, Harold married the princess.„Toot - toot“, sounded the trumpets and the celebration was overwhelming.

BLAH.. BLAH.. BLAH...You know the rest... ...and they lived happily ever after...

Until death do us part...

The END? Really? What kind of weird ending is this?...the story is finished as soon as the danger has passed and things are going great for the newly wed! Doesn’t Harold get to enjoy being a prince? And what is all this about people living happily ever after... what does it really mean? ...don’t you find it strange that storytellers won’t let you take a peek into the characters’ lives after they’ve finally fulfilled their destiny and this praised happiness has just begun?And is life really that simple, black or white, good or evil, that the married couple must be either happy or unhappy? Are the authors maybe hiding something? What is it they’ve got to hide? Isn’t it supposed to be sheer happiness or is somebody maybe tricking us? We should take a peek into the couple’s life ...

STOP! (breaking sound)

Squeeeeeel...

The prince didn’t know a great deal about life’s pleasures, and he knew even less about the related chores such as changing diapers, bottlefeeding or how to tend to a little baby.

HELP ! - 9 months later

What am I supposed to do with THIS ??

- 36 months later

But my dear Christy, I beg you, it´s football, my team is playing...

- 10 years later

Give me theremote control!

Harold maybe didn’t look his best these days, his hair had fallen off and he was sick and tired of doing chores. The poor guy now had so many children that he had lost count of them (and he was starting to believe that the stork brought the babies, since he and the princess no longer shared the same bed).

I, .... must.... get... AWAY!

Sometimes, ... every now and then, ... well, sort of always, Harold felt a bit left out -- as if he didn’t really fit into the royal family. It was as if he was on the outside, completely unnecessary, as if nobody ever considered he would become a king of his country...

oh NO!

I have had enough!

...don’t you dare come back!

Who is that? Look at that guy... HA HA HA!

I am the prince... from the palace...don´t you recognise me?

Ha hah ha.... it is the prince, commander of the pigs! Hahahahh..

The chickenking

ho-ho-hó

When the prince finally dragged himself to the castle door, soar and bedraggled, his spouse was waiting. The princess cried tears of joy when she saw him again - she had missed him so much that she could neither

eat nor sleep from worrying.

C H R I S T Y !Harold !

The castle was filled with mirth and joy when the prince returned.The family was more united than ever before. That did NOT mean they lived happily ever after, every day until the end of their lifes. NO, but they lived in the castle and shared joyous times as well as their sorrows... and it didn’t matter if they argued, shouted, or quarreled, the love blossomed in the nest...

ThE End?

Many years later...

Death seemed to have quite a bit of trouble getting the old

couple to depart...

And it still got worse for the poor

prince, who was getting old, his kids had grown

up, but Harold was still nothing more than a prince in a supporting role...

Okey Okey ! So be it!

You can be king now!

NOT AT ALL!Definately not!

Harold took matters into his own hands...

...and twisted the old king’s arm (and neck)...

...not mere happiness, even though most often

it’s completely wonderful. Anyway, regardless of

small disagreements, they, well.. ah, you know...

Of course there was both sunshines and showers in

the couples’ life. Some days were good, others bad, that’s

just the way life is...

Everything seemed to turn better, once the prince took faith in his own hands and

didn’t allow anybody to walk all over him.

They lived happily together ever after...