SATURDAY, APRIL 10TH, SATURDAY STORY - GOTTFRIED THE GREAT

 SATURDAY, APRIL 10TH, SATURDAY STORY

I’m going to use a Reedsy Prompt today: Write a story about an ordinary person speaking truth to power. (The overall Reedsy Prompts this week were for Hans Christian Anderson and fairy tales - I think this prompt was from The Emperor’s New Clothes - by Anderson)

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THE RISE OF GOTTFRIED TO GREAT

Back in ancient times, there were Kings and Queens.  The early kings were generally successful in battles and the people named them as their king.  The kingdom of Quaas was like that.  Gottfried the Great was a simple peasant farmer when the injustices of the king became too widespread.   Quaas was a small region tucked between two mountain ranges.  The land was fertile, the people were hard-working and nice.

Gottfried preferred to stay out of politics and take care of his farm and milk his cows.  But, as his meager holdings were in the center of the Quaas State, he was sought out by the current king of the kingdom of Quaas - the tottering old King Korrupt - to “donate” ten of his prize cattle to the king.   (“Donate” to the corrupt King Korrupt was not Gottfried’s language - extortion might be the better term!!)

Korrupt’s great-grandfather was Louis the Lover who led the Quaas people against the Trizugs.  The Trizugs were mean and Louis showed them love and acceptance - and eventually, the Trizugs learned that being nice was important.  King Temper of the Trizugs gave up his throne to Louis the Lover. (In fact, Louis the Lover was the person who developed the LOVE WINS theme!!)  

BUT - by the time King Karl, the Korrupt, took over the Kingdom of Quaas, taxes were high, punishments for most small misdemeanors were months of imprisonment.  And, meanwhile, King Korrupt lived in the finest castle in the world - the famous White Castle (where the original burgers lived).  (** today, it is known as Neuschwanstein Castle**)

King Karl, the Korrupt, demanded Gottfried give him the ten best cattle in his lot.  But, although Gottfried was a good citizen and a good farmer, ten of his best cattle would have a major impact on his small herd.  

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King Karl demanded and demanded.  Gottfried kept finding excuses - like three of the cattle had foot and hoof disease (not a disease, but King Karl didn’t know that).  Then four of the cows had “opulent milk” issues (and King Karl thought that was bad).

But, Gottfried was a smart man and a shrewd trader.  He heard that his neighboring farmer, Gustav Gentry was having an outbreak of mad cow disease.  He went to Gustav and offered to loan him ten cows for a year while he took ten cows that had mad cow disease.  

Then he went to wait for King Karl’s next demand.  It came the next day - and with an ultimatum - “You worthless beggar, send me your ten cows immediately or you will be beheaded.  You have avoided this long enough!!!”

Gottfried was more than happy to drive the ten cows to the king.  He brought the cows to the king and said “Oh sire, I am honoring you today with ten of the finest bovine spongiform encephalopathy cows.  You will not find any cows similar to these!!  You, oh wise king, will gain renown and prestige throughout the nations!!  (Of course, King Karl didn’t know that bovine spongiform encephalopathy meant “mad cow disease”)

In the next few weeks, Gottfried “blessed” the king with chickens with Necrotic Enteritis and corn for the animals that was black with spores.  He told the king it was a very new hybrid and would produce great outcomes when fed to the animals.  

In the next month, the human equivalent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy flooded King Karl’s mind and body - as well as his evil advisors.  He started to foam at the mouth and his digestive tract had almost constant diarrhea.  His thirst grew strongly by the hour, and Gottfried “blessed” the King with fermented apple juices which did work to a degree as they were a potent alcoholic drink.  Soon King Karl was staggering through the streets wearing a diaper and totally drunk.  He could barely speak let alone create a reasonable sentence.  And, in a few days, totally mentally ill, and with an unstoppable thirst, King Karl stumbled in the Quaas River and drowned.

The people rose up against King Karl’s cronies and demanded that Gottfried the Great be their new king.  The cronies, facing a mob, abducted, and Gottfried took over.  Gottfried was a simple man and lowered the taxes, rented out the suites at the White Castle for rich French (And American) sightseers, declared that the local hot springs were medicinal (which also brought visitors) and because the local beer was so good, created an annual event (that eventually became Oktoberfest). And he could lower the taxes even more because of the tourism and used the taxes he got for better schools and better roads. He threw out the corrupt judges, and created equality for women, and all people, and declared a general education for the following year.  No opposition arose, so Gottfried the Great ruled for ten years, at which time, he refused to run (he said something like “If nominated, I will not run, and if elected, I will not serve”).  The kingdom of Quaas became the republic of Quaas and the wines, beer, beef, and chicken became legendary and all were healthy!! 

And, he made sure his sons would not run for office as “Heir Apparent” and Frau Hilde Goetz became the first female leader in the Western World (although Diana continued to lead as Wonder Woman in the Amazon region).  

One of his last actions was to stop the erection of a monument to him and insisted that if he had to be remembered, name a primary school “Gottfried Quaas” (and so it was).

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The Republic of Quaas flourished for many years, but was joined with Saxony, then with Prussia, and finally as Germany.  While today, there is little remembered of Gottfried the Great, to historians he set an example that could be implemented today.  

And, in his senior years, Gottfried the Great left the Republic of Quaas and moved to the new republic on the other side of the Atlantic - the United States where his dependents still live and flourish (including the author)!!

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If you are ever in the Quaas region of Saxony, of southeast Germany for Oktoberfest, you will see banners declaring “Liebe Gewinnt” (or love wins).  Very few of the locals remember why that particular banner is used, but some of us know!!

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Okay, a fairy tale about good triumphing over evil.  No, it doesn’t always happen that way.  But, we have to work towards making LOVE WIN!! 

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See you tomorrow for SUNDAY FUNDAY

LOVE DOES WIN!!!

KAREN