Hark! The tale of the poor penniless king:
Wanted to marry but couldn't afford a ring,
He proposed to a princess without much of a fuss,
But the princess so vain would not have it thus,
And so she announced,
With a haughty air so pronounced:
"Deny me not a wedding band,
Or suffer the grief of never having my hand."

So the king mustered all his resources,
Immediately gathered all of his horses,
And scoured the land,
Till he found a wedding band.
But alas and alack! It was of tin!

Nevertheless, the magnanimous king
Proposed to the princess again,
He brought a dozen of his finest men,
And sought the beautiful princess,
"Oh lovely princess, suffer my love and marry me.
Pray do accept this ring I have found"
He beseeched, as he fell on his knee.
The princess was appalled, so shocked was she,
That she seemed to be bolted to the ground,
"Do not insult me, for a ring made of tin
Would be an absolute sin!"

So once again she sent him off on this quest
And again the king strived to do his very best,
And managed to find a ring of copper.
He brought it to the princess, hoping to win her over,
But all she said was "that's most definitely not proper!
I refuse to marry a pauper!"

Thus the king set off once more on his lofty quest,
He searched the kingdom, east, and west,
Until one day he had to rest,
And so he stopped beneath an olive tree.
The king, frustrated to a royal degree,
Sighed most unregally:
"Where shall I ever find a ring?
What a bothersomely elusive thing!"
And then he heard, from up the tree,
A cuckoo bird starting to sing,
"Allow me your royal highness,
Most humbly your royal highness,
To lend you my aid,
If you just take your blade,
And bore a hole through this tree,
There you shall find what you seek"
Sang the bird, timid and meek.

So the king drew his sword,
And through the tree a hole bored,
And surely enough,
The bird hadn't bluffed,
And inside the tree, he found a ring of silver.
"Why, you winged creature, indeed you're most clever!"
Exclaimed the king with joy,
"You'll certainly make a most interesting toy,
You shall entertain my princess each day,"
And so he caught the bird and took it away.

The king made his way back at quite a good pace,
Wearing a confident smile on his face,
With the bird in a parcel,
He approached the castle
And said most triumphantly,
Look at the gifts I've brought you, see!
Oh lovely princess, marry me!
The princess opened the package,
And screamed, "You savage!"
Upon the sight she saw,
For would you believe, the bird was alive no more!
The animal smelled strongly of death,
Because trapped in the box, it had run out of breath.

The princess was shocked at this hideous thing,
And aghast, stared straight at the king
"Why did you this carcass bring?
You worthless king,
Don't you at least have my ring?"

So the king presented in a flash,
The ring, wrapped in a satin sash,
The king felt ever so smart,
He was sure to win her heart.
But he was utterly confused,
When the princess refused,
She piercingly glared,
"Would I dream to wear,
A ring of silver?
Oh heavens, no! Never!"

So despite his endeavours,
Some not too clever,
He still hadn't secured his bride,
So off he rode, far and wide,
North and south, he everywhere went
Determinedly refusing to relent.

In the forest one day,
He was making his way,
When he chanced upon a mynah at play.
The king quite hungry, decided right then,
To eat the mynah hen.
But as he drew his sword,
The mynah upwards soared,
And then it began to speak:
"My king, do spare my life,
I am a mother and wife,
But do tell me what it is you seek."
So he told the wild bird his story,
Peppered with additions of glory,
And when he was done, so said the mynah:
Your highness must travel to China!

So the king went on his way,
He travelled a year and a day,
Until he reached the other side of the globe,
To a place where the people wore magnificent robes.
Never losing sight of his target,
He went straight to the market,
To find his princess a suitable ring,
Not made of silver or copper or tin.
In the market were all sorts of things,
From everyday items to objects you'd never imagine!
So he looked and he looked until he finally found
A merchant selling rings abound.
He sold rings that were round,
He sold rings that made sound,
He even sold rings made from the hide of a hound.
"But most exquisite of all,"
And when he said this he stood tall,
"Is the ring made from minerals found in the ground"

Now the king, he had travelled the seven seas,
Naturally of course, he could speak Chinese
And so he began to bargain the price,
He hadn't much with which to pay,
He had no possessions or coins or rice,
It's no wonder at all,
For he did after all,
Travel a whole year and a day.
All he had were his seven fine horses,
Each one of them a trusty steed,
Capable of running at mighty speeds,
To part with them would be difficult indeed,
But to have the princess as wife,
He'd give up his own life
And so he traded them with a great huge sigh,
To procure the finest ring money could buy.

After obtaining the ring,
He returned to the land of which he was king,
But it took much longer than a year and a day,
Because he had traded his horses away.

He travelled by foot for many a mile,
Thinking only of the princess the whole while.
He walked until his feet were sore,
But when he was at the castle once more,
He told the princess with a great smile,
His lengthy tale of his travels here and there,
But the princess did not at all care,
And stopped him short with a snappy bark:
"Save your stories for the children at the park!
Tell me, do you have the ring?"
Promptly the king unravelled the precious thing,
He was so proud he felt his heart start to sing,
Surely the princess would now love the king?
But heavens help him, the princess grew dark,
If he'd expected to win her, he was far off the mark.
"What insolence,
such impudence!
How dare you bring me a ring made of stone?
Really you might as well have brought me a bone!"
The king quickly corrected,
It's not of stone that it is made,
It's actually jade,
A most precious mineral, precisely selected"
To which the princess said, aloof,
While throwing the ring straight to the roof,
"Why, a ring made of jade,
Wouldn't befit even my maid!"

So yet again, his hopes let down,
The king went off with a frown,
He had no idea where to look,
He had already explored every corner and nook,
Every leaf he turned, every tree he shook,
He even looked between the pages of books.

So the king, tremendously tired,
Heaved and expired,
Made his way home to retire,
When he heard someone call "Sire!
I know your heart's greatest desire,
And I certainly admire,
Your passion and fire,
And it's clear to me that your situation is dire,
And I'm willing to help, sire."
The king looked up above,
And saw a swallow and a dove.
Then on went the swallow:
"I know where you can find a beautiful band,
I'll lead and you'll follow,
And I'll show you the ring in the far away land.

And so for the sake of love,
He followed the swallow and dove.
Mountains and valleys and strange lands they crossed,
Without the birds the king would have been lost.
They journeyed for ages,
To write of it would take pages,
But at last they arrived at their destination,
A quaint little village in a far away nation.

There the king met a peasant girl,
Who, according to the birds
Had almost two thirds
Of everything in the world.

So he asked the girl if she had a ring to spare,
That would be fit for a princess to wear.
She put her hand in her pocket,
And pulled out a key,
That opened a locket as blue as the sea
And inside the locket, she showed the king,
Was in fact a golden ring.

Now the king thought he'd finally found
The ring that would have the princess spellbound,
He accepted the ring, kept in a box made of wood,
And returned to his kingdom as swiftly as he could.

But when he got back, so much had changed,
Many things to him seemed a bit strange.
Somehow he sensed that something was wrong,
Perhaps it was because he'd been away for too long.
He wasn't too bothered nevertheless,
But made his way straight to the princess.
He went to her castle, but she wasn't there,
Strangely enough, it was completely bare,
So with great despair,
He went to his own,
And there he saw the princess, sitting on his throne.

"Princess, why are you here?"
"Kneel in my presence, you are not my peer,
I'm no longer princess, I am now queen!
Absent for so long, where have you been?"
"But princess!" the king began,
Before he could go on she stopped the man,
"I'm not a princess, I am the queen,
For the country needed a leader and you were nowhere to be seen"
"How noble of you to assume this onerous task in my absence,
But now I must ask, considering my presence,
That you step down,
And return me my crown.
Then marry me and be my queen,
I'll tell you where I have been:
I searched whole world to find a ring,"
Said the overthrown king,
As he presented the ring to the queen.

At this the queen laughed, "Surely you jest!
The only reason I made such a request,
Was so that you'd vacate the throne,
And I could claim it for my own.
How silly of you to assume,
To have the audacity to presume,
To make me your queen, with a ring of gold,
Certainly you realize that you're too old?
And just to be clear,
The only ring I ever wanted
Was really quite near,
But if I'd asked, it would have never been granted,
For it was the royal seal for which I yearned,
Which now I believe I've deservingly earned."

And with that,
She said "nice lovely chat,
Now off with his head!"
And with the king dead,
Long lived the queen,
The cunningest queen the world had seen.