Once upon a time there was a prince who was bewitched so that he could only say one word a year.
If he did not speak for two years, the next year he could say two words, and so on.
One day, he fell in love with a beautiful lady.
He refrained from speaking for two whole years so he could call her “my darling.”
But then he wanted to tell her that he loved her, so he waited three more years.
At the end of these five years, she wanted to ask him to marry him, so she waited another four years.
Finally, at the end of the ninth year of silence, he took the lady to the most romantic place in the kingdom and said to her:
“My dear, I love you. Will you marry me?”
And the lady responded: “Excuse me?”
