Il était une fois, dans un royaume au loin, a habité là-bas un prince qui n'a jamais ri.
Once upon a time, in a far away kingdom, there lived a prince who never laughed.
No one remembers now why the prince never laughed, but at the time it was a source of great consternation to the king's subjects, for they loved the prince very much.
Rumors flew to and fro as the prince grew from boy to man, stating that he was under a terrible curse, in spite of the relative normality of the royal family (since they ruled a peaceful and tiny kingdom and were not prone to catching the eye of evil enchanters). Yet others said the prince had suffered a great loss (of his pony, perhaps, or his sister's cat), unbeknownst to the common folk.
The prince was kind to all he met, never failing to treat both peasant and king with courtesy and unfailing gentleness. His voice was never raised in distress or anger; as a matter of fact, his voice never betrayed any emotion, any more than his expression did.
His subjects (who were by and large cheerful folk) were baffled by this attitude. Did the prince not have everything he could wish for? Were his parents not benevolent and understanding? Did they not grant his every wish? Did he not have the kindest and happiest of all princesses for a sister?
Yet they and all who met him could not help but love the prince, as he was the most pleasant of companions (despite his tendency not to laugh). He was kind to animals, extremely well-read, a good listener and very intelligent.
Had anyone dared to ask the prince why he never laughed, he would have been unable to answer the question satisfactorily. But since it never came up, the prince was not required to explain this feeling of expectancy that had accompanied him from the cradle, dogging his heels for as long as he could remember, making him ever-so-slightly discontent of the bounty with which he had been so blessed.
And so it came to pass that the king and queen began to despair of ever seeing their youngest child smile, and sought answers from the wisest people in all the land.
"You must help him find a sense of purpose," said the first wise person, a warrior by the name of Heero Yuy. "All this time spent with heavy philosophical tomes must be balanced with time spent helping others, and then he will know what true happiness is."
"He must learn to love someone more than life itself," said the second, an engineer by the name of Duo Maxwell. "Then he will know what true happiness is."
"You must set him free to wander the world and discover all the manner of things he has read about for himself," said the third, a philosopher by the name of Chang Wufei. "In discovery much happiness can be found, and he can learn to laugh on such a voyage."
"He must learn what true suffering is," said the fourth, a teacher by the name of Lucrezia Noin, "and then he will know how blessed he is and thus the meaning of true happiness."
"He must create something of both surpassing beauty and supreme ugliness at the same time," said the fifth, an artist by the name of Zechs Merquise. "Only by seeing both in one can he see what true happiness is."
The king and queen blinked and looked at each other in bafflement; their son must do all this in order to be happy? They shrugged and called for a page to bring the prince before them.
After searching all the prince's normal haunts, the page discovered him curled up in the ménagerie, reading Homer's Odyssey. When told his presence was requested in the throne room, the prince blinked once, then closed his book, gracefully rose to his feet and returned to the castle.
"Well, son," began the king, "it looks as if you're going to have to take a, ah, long trip before you'll find whatever it is you're searching for. The wise people have set forth many tasks for you to accomplish—I know you'll do us proud."
"Very well, Father," replied the prince. "Even though I don't see how accomplishing these tasks will help me, I will make this journey and do the tasks. Perhaps by doing so I will learn to laugh, as the wise folk have said."
"Be careful, my dear Triton," said the queen, "and return home safely to us."
"I shall do my best, Mother. But until the day I have learned to laugh as you have asked, I shall be known as Trowa."
With that, he packed his bag, kissed his parents goodbye, hugged his sister Cathrine and bade her take good care of his animal friends in the ménagerie, then walked outside the gates of the kingdom to seek someone who could teach him how to laugh.
to be continued...
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