once apon a time

Barry Smylie (barrysmylie@iname.com)
Mon, 01 Feb 1999 09:56:57 -0500

Once upon a time in a far away land long long ago lived five bad men.
The bad men wanted everybody in the far away land to hop skip and jump.
The king didn't like his subjects hopping and skipping an jumping
around. The people didn't hop and skip and jump because they respected
their king and besides they didn't like hopping and skipping and jumping
very much.

The five bad bad men did nasty things to the king's property and wrote
slogans all over the walls. "Hop, Skip, and Jump" the slogans read.
The five bad men were so busy making trouble and hopping and skipping
and jumping that the king began to think that many many more men than
just five where hoping and skipping and jumping. It made the king very
angry.

In his anger the king made everybody stay at home and put his rough
soldiers into the streets to make sure they did. The king didn't allow
people to meet and he arrested one legged men for hopping and he
arrested children for skipping and he arrested athletes for jumping. He
arrested people for walking and running and slipping and sliding because
he was afraid that walking and running and slipping and sliding would
become hopping and skipping and jumping.

Eventually the people began to hate their king and even though they
really didn't want to hop and skip and jump, hopping and skipping and
jumping became very fashionable indeed.