d the
opinion of the learned was that it reached to the end of the world.

There were strong reasons for this opinion. First, that forest was known
to be inhabited time out of mind by the fairies, and no hunter cared to
go beyond its border--so all the west country believed it to be solidly
full of old trees to the heart. Secondly, the people of Stumpinghame
were no travelers--man, woman, and child had feet so large and heavy
that it was by no means convenient to carry them far. Whether it was the
nature of the place or the people, I cannot tell, but great feet had
been the fashion there time immemorial, and the higher the family the
larger were they. It was, therefore, the aim of everybody above the
degree of shepherds, and such-like rustics, to swell out and enlarge
their feet by way of gentility; and so successful were they in these
undertakings that, on a pinch, respectable people's slippers would have
served for panniers.

Stumpinghame had a king of its own, and his name was Stiffstep; his
family was very ancient and large-footed. His subjects called him Lord
of the World, and he made a speech to them every year concerning the
grandeur of his mighty empire. His queen, Hammerheel, was the greatest
beauty in Stumpinghame. Her majesty's shoe was not much less than a
fishing-boat; their six children promised to be quite as handsome, and
all went well with them till the birth of their seventh son.

For a long time nobody about the palace could understand what was the
matter--the ladies-in-waiting looked so astonished, and the king so
vexed; but at last it was whispered through the city that the queen's
seventh child had been born with such miserably small feet that they
resembled nothing ever seen or heard of in Stumpinghame, except the feet
of the fairies.

The chronicles furnished no example of such an affliction ever before
happening in the royal family. The common people thought it portended
some great calamity to the city; the learned men began to write books
about it; and all the relations of the king and queen assembled at the
palace to mourn with them over their singular misfortune. The whole
court and most of the citizens helped in this mourning, but when it had
lasted seven days they all found out it was of no use. So the relations
went to their homes, and the people took to their work. If the learned
men's books were written, nobody ever read them; and to cheer up the
queen's spirits, the young prince was