in a far away land there was a noble king and his beautiful, pregnant wife. The king was much loved by his people, but he had an intensely jealous brother. Envious that the birth of the prince would mean he would never rule, the brother sought the help of an evil witch. The witch cursed the unborn child, causing him to have no sense of humor at all. You see this kingdom, being a magical sort, had an ancient and unyielding law saying that a man who could not laugh could not rule. And so years passed and the king fell ill and yet the prince had never laughed. Desperate that the passing of the king would lead to the rule of his evil brother the queen sent out a proclamation: there was to be a contest between the 10 best wordsmiths, jesters, bards, and comedians and if any could construct a joke which could make the prince laugh, that man would be richly rewarded for the rest of his life. For weeks, the contestants practiced and planned and finally the ten best jokes were presented to the prince. The assembled audience laughed and cried and rolled on the ground with mirth and when the last joke had been told they eagerly looked to the prince, sure that at least one of the masterful jokes had succeeded but sadly… No pun in ten did.