And They Lived Happily Ever After

And They Lived Happily Ever After

 
Once upon a time in a kingdom far away there was old man who had three daughters. A widower, the old man had struggled to raise his three daughters alone. However, in the fullness of time, two of the daughters who were beautiful and graceful attracted strong, handsome sons who helped the man work his fields. 
 
But, his oldest daughter was plain. She was tall and gangly and anything but beautiful,  and her father despaired of ever marrying her off. So she toiled in the fields and in his kitchen and those of her beautiful sisters and she was sunburned and her hands were rough and her hair unkempt.
 
But, one day a young knight named Tim came and asked for the hand of the old man’s most lovely daughter. The old man explained that his beautiful daughters were married and that only his plain oldest daughter was unmarried and worked in the fields and kept house for her sisters and their husbands.
 
But, Tim insisted that this was the woman he desired and so they were married.
 
Every day Tim told his new wife that she was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. Whenever they went to the village he bragged on her beauty, on her talent with thread and needle, her skills at weaving tapestry, her beautiful singing voice and her unmatched grace. His compliments were endless and he treated like a queen.
 
At first the people of the kingdom were puzzled. Could he be talking about the old man’s eldest daughter…that big, gawky, gangly girl?
 
 But, through the weeks and months, as Tim continued to brag about his wife something amazing happened. The villagers began to see what he saw. She had somehow been transformed into a beautiful and graceful lady. She was no longer the plain, gangly girl who worked in the fields.

 When she walked hand in hand with her husband she was as lovely as a tall reed blowing softly in the wind. For her demeanor had become confident, her smile had become warm, her face had become radiant with the appreciation he had showered upon...

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