The Goldfish and the Ruby

The Goldfish and the Ruby
There was once a kingdom ruled over by a brave King and his wise Queen. They lived with their beautiful daughter, the Princess.

The royal family delighted in poetry and painting and jewels and exotic animals and cunningly-made automata. The Queen's most prized possession was a Goldfish of dazzling beauty which lived in a special pond in the Palace gardens.

One day, a small, red stone called Ruby fell into the Goldfish's pond. The Goldfish looked at the stone. "What are you doing in my special pond?" she demanded. "You are not made of gold or silver or diamond!" The Goldfish looked more closely at the stone. "Why! You are not even a Ruby! You are just an ordinary stone, painted red!" With that, the Goldfish was so incensed that she gobbled up the stone which wasn't a ruby but which was called Ruby.

But the stone called Ruby was called Ruby by the Princess and, whilst the Goldfish was the Queen's most treasured possession, the Princess was dearer to the Queen than anything else in the world. And so the Queen's men cut open the Goldfish to rescue Ruby for the Princess. And, even though they were careful and tried to put the Goldfish back together again, she never worked properly, or at all, again.