The Princess and the TIn Box
Encyclopedia
The Princess and the Tin Box by James Thurber
is a short fable
about a spoiled princess and how she picked her husband. The story intentionally leads the reader down the wrong path, and shows that human nature can deceive us.
and other precious materials. China dolls or wooden blocks or linen
books were not given to her as they were deemed to be too cheap for the beautiful daughter of a king.
The fifth prince was the strongest and most handsome of all the suitors but unfortunately, he was also the poorest. His kingdom had been overtaken by mice, locusts, wizards, and mining engineers so that nothing much of value was left. He brought to the princess a tin box filled with mica
, feldspar
and hornblende
which he had picked up along the way.
The king told the princess to select the gift she liked best and then she would marry the prince who brought it. The princess admired the first four gifts but examined the tin box with great interest for in all of her life she had never seen tin or mica or feldspar or hornblende.
After careful consideration, the princess selected the gift she liked best: the platinum and sapphire jewel box, her logic being that in time, she would meet more admirers who would give her gifts, and these she could put in the box. The princess married the third prince that very day.
James Thurber
James Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...
is a short fable
Fable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
about a spoiled princess and how she picked her husband. The story intentionally leads the reader down the wrong path, and shows that human nature can deceive us.
Plot summary
Once upon a time, in a far off country, there lived a king whose daughter was the most beautiful lady in the world. From the minute of her birth, expensive gifts were lavished upon her. All her toys were made of gold or platinumPlatinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
and other precious materials. China dolls or wooden blocks or linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
books were not given to her as they were deemed to be too cheap for the beautiful daughter of a king.
The fifth prince was the strongest and most handsome of all the suitors but unfortunately, he was also the poorest. His kingdom had been overtaken by mice, locusts, wizards, and mining engineers so that nothing much of value was left. He brought to the princess a tin box filled with mica
Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
, feldspar
Feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
and hornblende
Hornblende
Hornblende is a complex inosilicate series of minerals .It is not a recognized mineral in its own right, but the name is used as a general or field term, to refer to a dark amphibole....
which he had picked up along the way.
The king told the princess to select the gift she liked best and then she would marry the prince who brought it. The princess admired the first four gifts but examined the tin box with great interest for in all of her life she had never seen tin or mica or feldspar or hornblende.
After careful consideration, the princess selected the gift she liked best: the platinum and sapphire jewel box, her logic being that in time, she would meet more admirers who would give her gifts, and these she could put in the box. The princess married the third prince that very day.