nted to marry a princess made the King a
head out of dough, sticking in it the glass eyes; and the King tried it
on and found that it fitted very well. So the young man was given the
next biggest princess.

But the following day the sun chance to shine extremely hot, and when
the King walked out it baked his dough head into bread, at which the
monarch felt very light-headed. And when the birds saw the bread they
flew down from the trees, perched upon the King's shoulder and quickly
ate up his new head. All but the glass eyes.

Again the good King was forced to go home to the Queen without a head,
and the lady firmly declared that this time her husband must have a
head warranted to last at least as long as the honeymoon of the young
man who made it; which was not at all unreasonable under the
circumstances.

So a request was sent to all loyal subjects throughout the Valley
asking them to find a head for their King that was neat and
substantial.

In the meantime the King had a rather hard time of it. When he wished
to go any place he was obliged to hold out in front of him, between his
thumbs and fingers, the glass eyes, that they might guide his
footsteps. This, as you may imagine, made his Majesty look rather
undignified, and dignity is very important to every royal personage.

At last a wood-chopper in the mountains made a head out of wood and
sent it to the King. It was neatly carved, besides being solid and
durable; moreover, it fitted the monarch's neck to the T. So the King
rummaged in his pocket and found the glass eyes, and when these were
put in the new head the King announced his satisfaction.

There was only one drawback--he couldn't smile, as the wooden face was
too stiff; and it was funny to hear his Majesty laughing heartily while
his face maintained a solemn expression. But the glass eyes twinkled
merrily and every one knew that he was the same kind-hearted monarch of
old, although he had become, of necessity, rather hard-headed.

Then the King sent word to the wood-chopper to come to the palace and
take his pick of the princesses, and preparations were at once begun
for the wedding.

But the wood-chopper, on his way to the court, unfortunately passed by
the dwelling of the Purple Dragon and stopped to speak to the monster.

Now it seems that when the Dragon had swallowed the King's head, the
unusual meal made the beast ill. It was more accustomed to berries and
caramels for dinner than to heads