Chapter 2: Mermaids of Marbella and Arthur of Beauteous Kingdom


     The reader is introduced to each of the six mermaid princesses. Mermaid palace life, with little fish and each mermaid sister’s personal garden, is described. 
     We learn of the twelve powerful magicians who boast the power to create gold and silver by putting magic words on slips of paper.  The magicians are uninterested in who makes official decrees as long as the magicians are free to create the kingdom’s wealth.
     We also learn of lesser magicians known as happiness counters.  By means of such magic words as kurtosis, standard deviation, and granger, they’re able to divine that almost everyone in Beauteous Kingdom is deliriously happy—after excluding the “outliars” (people who lie more than anyone else), of course.
     Prince Arthur has private tutors who teach him such things as how to influence people by learning a store of talking points that seem to address their concerns and appearing approachable and regal at the same time.  Another private tutor, who is not described and is known only as Bastiat, exposes Arthur to literature that undermines the teachings of Arthur’s other tutors.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 1: Mermaids, Prince Arthur, and Emily in 1841

Image
  .       Mermaids, their homes and their habitats are explained and described, including how mermaids and dolphins sense the approach of a hurricane and fend for themselves.   Mermaids praise their King Wayan II for doing little or nothing as a ruler, which perfectly suits them.   Mermaid doctors are rewarded for keeping their patience well, and mermaids pay them nothing when they fall ill.      Mermaid Queen Iridescence is killed by a tiger shark, which causes her eldest daughter to fear going to the surface by herself.   The three major settings of the novel are the mermaid kingdom Marbella, the royal palace of Beauteous Kingdom, and Emily McAllister’s farm home on Sawyer Island.  Mermaid and dolphin relationships are described.      Prince Arthur, heir to the throne of Beauteous Kingdom, is an impractical dreamer who’d rather spend time communing with nature and woodland fairies than l...
Read more

Chapter 6: The Girl Who Became a Mermaid

Image
    This chapter tells the story of a girl who, three decades after the events of this novel, was befriended by mermaids, learned their ways, and shared their culture with the world of humans.  The girl's grandfather Glenn Kellerman, is a minor character in Emily and the Mermaid: a novelized fairy tale.      The girl's name was Annette Kellerman.      Annette Kellerman was an Australian girl who, at a very young age, developed a case of rickets, which severely weakened her legs.  Annette's father, remembering Glenn Kellerman's tales of meeting mermaids in Beauteous Kingdom over three decades earlier, felt that swimming mermaid style would strengthen her legs.      After making a few contacts in Beauteous Kingdom, Mr. Kellerman placed Annette in the care of mermaids for a few months.  After a few more contacts that were supplied by mermaids and fairies, Annette continued her lessons in her native Au...
Read more

Chapter 21: The Palace Soirée, Part 1

Image
      In preparation for the upcoming soir ée, the royal palace received a visit from Ben Friendly, the chief of protocol for Kakisland, a nearby kingdom. Ben Friendly and Beauteous Kingdom's chief of protocol George Pleasant discussed the protocol and cultural differences of their kingdoms.    Pleasant learns that human resources departments in Kakisland have an office called the department of defenestration.  If a job applicant begins a sentence with the words, "Hey, man," he's sent to the defenestrator to request defenestration.  The defenestrator would then comply with the applicant's request by throwing him out a window.      In Kakisland, public breastfeeding is so commonly practiced that it's not even noticed, but it's illegal (and considered disgusting and immoral) for fat people to eat in public.      Also in Kakisland, billboards and other forms of advertising are posted everywhere people look.  To...
Read more