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A long time ago there once was a wonderful poodle named Boye. The owner of the wonderful dog was named Prince Rupert. There was no dog ever like Boye and there my never be one like him again. Rupert and Boye were Cavaliers, better known as men who wore
shoulder-length wigs, because it was the royal custom. This was not the
only hairstyle of their time; there was also Roundheads, which had very
short hair. They were called Roundheads because of the fact that they had
such short hair you could see their bony skulls. The Roundheads and the Cavaliers were at war because the Cavaliers liked Kings, Charles I, Rupert and Boye. The Roundheads on the other hand did not. One reason why the Roundheads did not like Boye is because he could speak Hebrew and High Dutch; also he spoke English and French as well. The Number one reason they didn’t not care for Boye is because of the fact that he could change his shape and spy on people. Boye loved to change his shape and spy on them and see what the were all telling everyone about Prince Rupert. One day when Boye turned himself into “Bill”, he overheard some Roundheads saying they were going to throw mud at Prince Rupert when he walked to church on Sunday. So, when Sunday rolled around, Boye, who was white to begin with, turned into a fleecy cloud and hung himself right over Rupert's head. Now, everyone was wondering where the pretty cloud had come from when out came the Roundheads with their hands full of sticky-gooey mud. They started slinging it at Prince Rupert and his fellow Cavaliers.
Some
of the mud balls had rocks in them, and they knocked the Cavaliers down. For a while, it really looked like the Roundheads
were getting tile better of Prince Rupert. Then did Boye rise up, cover
the sun, and fire hail upon the mudslinging men, scattering them on the
spot. One
of the Roundheads shouted, "This dog is no dog." Another
Roundhead, while shielding his head from hail, said, "This dangerous
Cavalier dog's got the Devil in him." So
the Roundheads began to plot a way to destroy Boye.
First, they fired lead balls at Boye with their pistols, but Boye caught
the bullets in his teeth and saved them for the prince. Then the
Roundheads tried to throw a net over him, but Boye changed himself into a
snake and wriggled away. Finally, at the Battle of Marston Moor, a
Roundhead, who told everyone he was a magician, snuck up behind Boye as he
was fighting; alongside the prince and killed him with a silver bullet.
Yet no sooner that Boye fell upon the field of battle than a white cloud
rose up into the sky. It was broad as a sailing ship and it had a great
bow and a fine stern, and it floated cleanly over the sea-blue sky. "That's
no ship," Prince Rupert cried. "It's Boye!" The huge cloud
drifted over that battlefield, casting fear into many a Roundhead heart.
Some say that Boye died on the battlefield that day, struck down by the
silver bullet. They say the Roundheads found a magician like Merlin who
fired the deadly shot. Well, it did happen that the Roundheads won the
Battle of Marston Moor. There are those who believe that Boye wasn't
killed - that, once again, he turned into a cloud and disappeared into the
sky. They say you can see him today when you look up at the clouds above.
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