So he began to laugh, and the minister, who had
by this time grown tired of the game, heard the laugh and came toward
the stranger and touched him, and immediately all the wise men and the
councilors fell down before him and hailed him as King of Whatland!
Thus did the wandering fiddler become King Cole, and you may be sure
he laughed more merrily than ever when they explained to him his good
fortune.
They carried him within the palace and dressed him in purple and fine
linen, and placed a crown of gold upon his bald head and a jeweled
scepter in his wrinkled hand, and all this amused old King Cole very
much. When he had been led to the great throne room and placed upon
the throne of gold (where the silken cushions felt very soft and
pleasant after his long ride upon the donkey's sharp back) the
courtiers all knelt before him and asked what commands he wished to
give, since everyone in the kingdom must now obey his slightest word.
"Oh well," said the new King, "I think the first thing I would like is
my old pipe. You 'll find it in the pocket of the ragged coat I took
off."
One of the officers of the court at once ran for the pipe, and when it
was brought King Cole filled it with tobacco from his greasy pouch and
lighted it, and you can imagine what a queer sight it was to see the
fat King sitting upon the rich throne, dressed in silk, and satins and
a golden crown, and smoking at the same time an old black pipe!
The councilors looked at each other in dismay, and the ladies of the
court sneezed and coughed and seemed greatly shocked, and all this
pleased old King Cole so much that he lay back in his throne and
roared with laughter.
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