Once Long ago and far away there lived a king and queen who owned a wonderful white rat. Now this lady rat could sing and dance and speak most enchantingly. However, wonderful though the rat was, it really was not the same as having a daughter of their own.

So they went to the Fairy Queen and asked her to turn their wonderful white rat into a royal princess. Now the Fairy Queen owed them a favor or two, but still she hesitated. She was much more accustomed to changing royal children into animals than the other way around. But she concentrated for quite a while and bit the king and queen to hurry back to their palace.

You can be sure that they ordered the coachman to go fast. And the roads of the kingdom were very bumpy. The royal gateman barely had time to swing open the great iron gates before the king and queen jumped from their coach and ran into the palace.

There they found a lovely pink and white princess. much more adorable than a white lady rat. Everyone agreed to that as they ate and drank at the splendid banquet held in honor of the princess.

When she grew up, her father, the king, thought he would be even happier if he had a son-in-law as well as a daughter. "Are you willing to marry?" he asked his royal princess. "Quite ready, Father dear. Who is my husband to be?" So fond of his daughter was this king that he replied without further thought, "Whomever you wish, my princess." "That is easily said," And she smiled. "I want the most powerful husband in the whole world." Well: For three days the king sat deep in thought, sucking the knob of his scepter. On the fourth day he called his daughter to him.

"My daughter, I have found you a suitable husband - the most powerful in the whole wide world. The cold of winter and the dark on night flee before him. At his smile, flowers, fruits and trees spring into bloom. He laughs and every living creature comes to life. In short, I shall give to you the Sun." The princess turned away with a pout. "The Sun!" All it takes is one not very large cloud and - pfft - no more sun."

Quite so! For two days the king sat on his throne deep in thought, twirling his scepter. On the third day he called his daughter to him.

"A suitable husband, my daughter, is not hard to find. It shall be he who makes the Sun disappear, he who can blot out the blue sky and cover the whole wide world. The Cloud shall be your husband."

The princess frowned. "Why should I want him? One good wind and - zip - no more Cloud." True! For one entire day the king sat deep in thought, tapping his scepter. The next morning he called his daughter to him

"The Wind shall be your husband. Does he not drive all before him: Does he not rule the severn seas?" The princess yawned. "Since I am not a fish, I really don't care how many seas he rules. Certainly here on earth the Wind can't even move a mountain."

Aha! This time the ding didn't need more than a minute's thought to find the answer. "The Mountain shall be your husband." The princess turned up her nose. "That ugly mass of rocks and roots and earth! No, there is someone who nibbles and gnaws away at the Mountain as if it were a piece of cheese. He and he alone is greater than the Sun whom he avoids. Greater than the Cloud whom he ignores. Greater than the Wind at whom he laughs. Greater than the Mountain in which he makes his home. In a word, there is the Rat."

The king hung his head and so did the queen when she heard the news. But a promise is a promise. Back they went to the Fairy Queen. They asked her to change their princess back into a white lady rat. The Fairy Queen did this right away. Then she bid them return to their palace. The king and queen didn't hurry. After all the roads of their kingdom were very bumpy.

As their coach creaked up to the palace gates they heard the sound of a wedding march. Our from the palace came the newly-wedded pair. The wonderful white lady rat with a splendid gray gentleman rat. His whiskers were long and his tail was longer. His eyes were bright and his teeth were brighter.

They made their home in the largest mountain they could find.