1.
Take a paranoid king, brooding over disgrace
Add an old, battered soldier coming back
From the bloodiest of battles.
The soldier feels his bad luck is an unfair
Blow of fate. Life has been hard on him.
The king wants to know where his twelve
Daughters go at night, for, despite being
Locked away, every morning their dancing
Shoes are worn to pieces.
Whoever finds out will live to be his heir ...