Telling Stories Through Objects - Brooklyn Children's Museum

The Dreaming Prince
Story By Leon Waller, 1995
Long ago in ancient China, there was a pair of twin
brothers who did not get along. They did not like each
other in the least. Their father was a powerful king, and
it was up to him which of the two would become king
when he passed away.
The first twin was almost certain that he would be ruler
someday, but he was not absolutely sure. This
uncertainty troubled him and made him brood.
Whenever he could he would cause trouble for the
second twin, and point out to their father what he saw
as his brother’s unsuitable qualities for becoming king.
The second twin was not particularly concerned with
the future. He did not even think about his father's
eventual death and passing. He seldom saw his father,
the king, who was always busy, and he avoided his
troublesome brother as much as possible. The second
twin kept to himself for the most part. He daydreamed,
thought, and saw things that no one else seemed to
see or understand. For that reason, he was called “the
dreaming prince.”
There were times when the dreaming prince would
have the most amazing idea or fantastic vision, and
would be so eager to speak of it to someone that he
would take the chance of mentioning it to his brooding
brother. And it is this mistake that takes us to the heart
of this tale.
One morning after having a scary yet wonderful dream
the dreaming prince mentioned it to his brooding
brother. Said the dreaming prince, "I dreamt of a small
and wonderful creature. I was asleep when I saw a
mouse-like creature enter my room through an open
window. It flew three circles around my room and
around my head, and then returned to the window
again and hung from the sill upside down like a bat.
Then it began to weep for reasons I cannot say. The
tears fell and were as black as ink."
"You lie, you lie, you lie!" shouted the brooding prince,
and ran off to inform their father of how foolish his
brother was. After hearing another of his brother’s silly
dreams, he thought, how could their father ever make
the dreaming prince a king?
TELLING STORIES THROUGH OBJECTS 32
Days later, the dreaming prince had another scary yet
wonderful dream, and again he took the chance of
mentioning it to his brooding brother. "I have dreamt
of the most curious creature,” he said. “It seemed to be
both a lion and a dog, and had the most fearsomely
sharp teeth. I woke and found it sitting in the middle of
my room carving a hollow in the surface of a stone
with its teeth.”
"Amazing!" said the brooding prince. "And did you see
or dream anything more?"
"Yes," said the dreaming prince, encouraged by his
brother's unusual interest. "Just the night before, I saw
or dreamt about a beautiful bird. It had gold and silver
feathers and its wings burned when it flew. It was there
for just a moment, and then it was gone."
"You lie, you lie, you lie!" shouted the brooding prince,
and ran off to inform their father of how foolish his
brother was. After hearing another of his brother’s silly
dreams, he thought, how could their father ever make
the dreaming prince a king?
Deeply hurt by this betrayal of trust, that night the
dreaming prince went to bed in tears, feeling very
much alone. He had begun to believe that no one liked
him, not even his father. In the course of the night he
woke from his shallow, fitful sleeping four times.
The first time he woke, he noticed the bat had returned
and that its black tears were pooling on the windowsill.
The second time he woke, he noticed the lion-dog in
the middle of the room with an object in its mouth,
which it left on the floor before disappearing. The third
time he woke, the burning bird had returned with a
burning stick. He should have feared the fire, but it did
not seem to matter. The bird flew off, leaving the
flaming stick behind.
Now he slept until the edge of morning. Then he woke
to the sound a great weight dragging itself around the
room. He opened his eyes and saw a dragon wrapped
around his bed. He looked into the violet burning eyes
of the dragon for a long time. The dragon gave him