P is for Plurimiregia #AtoZChallenge

         (My A-Z Blog Challenge theme this year is Mythical and Imaginary Places.  You can visit the Master List here to see all the other bloggers who are on this A to Z journey with me.)

        Plurimiregia is one of a pair of neighboring island kingdoms, the other being Allexanassa, somewhere far away from England.  The country is attractive, with fresh clear air, rolling wooded hills, and a charming, small capitol with a wall around it on which oranges grow.  One of its special properties is that the kings of this nation are allowed to know everything without having to learn it.  It’s all most idyllic.  Unfortunately, once a month the seawater runs away and great waves of thick treacle come sweeping around the islands so that no boat can sail through it.  Then a two-headed dragon swims up - he’s so hot inside that as he swims the treacle melts before him, creating a swimmable path - and arrives at the quay, where he is fed the king.  The dragon’s pig-shaped head eats the king of Plurimiregia, while the lizard-shaped head then eats the queen of Allexanassa.  This is why these kingdoms must constantly advertise for new rulers at the employment office.

        At least, so it was for many years, until one of the queens of Allexanassa found out about the tradition in time to warn the current king of Plurimiregia, and the two of them devised a plan, defeated the dragon, and lived happily ever after.  Upon the death of the dragon, however, the treacle remained and cooled into toffee.  It now stands up in cliffs two hundred feet tall above the borders with the real sea, and the great toffee-mines of Plurimiregia are the source of all the toffee sold in the rest of the world.

        Unfortunately, I can’t show you a good picture of this place because there aren’t a lot of illustrations and such as they are, they all focus on the characters rather than the setting.  However, I do have a scene from the garden of the palace of Plurimiregia, and a scene on the shore of the island as the two-headed dragon approaches in the distance.

        This short history of the Kingdom of Plurimiregia can be found recorded in a story by E. Nesbit, and shows us that kings and queens and prime ministers are much like other people, although of course much smarter and more talented once they’re able to know everything without learning.  We also see that people everywhere are inclined to let others suffer in order to keep themselves comfortable, although luckily the present king and queen are forgiving of this sad facet of human nature, and model better behavior for their people.  Which shows how nations thrive when their leaders are the best among them, rather than the worst.  (Just sayin'.)

        The MORAL of Plurimiregia:  When something goes wrong, best to be honest about the problem and ask for help, instead of lying to people.

              OR:  Know your Latin and Greek.

        So, if you could master any skill without having to learn it, what would you pick?

[Pictures: He came upon a little person in a large white cap, illustration by H.R. Millar from “Billy the King” by E. Nesbit, The Strand Magazine, July 1904 (Image from Internet Archive);

The arrival of the dragon, illustration by Brian Robb, 1977.]