Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away, lived a wealthy, powerful King and his beautiful wife, the Queen. She was the most stunning woman in the entire land, but unfortunately, she was as mean and vicious as she was lovely. Although privileged her entire life, she always wanted more. Nothing was ever enough for the Queen. On her wedding day, the King presented her with the royal crown, officially making her Queen of the kingdom. The crown was full of the largest, rarest gems in the land. This was not enough to please her. She demanded that he make her an even bigger, more extravagant, more beautiful crown. Eventually, the King had no choice but to demand that all of his people surrender their valuables to him so that he could fulfill his wife's desire. Needless to say, the people of the kingdom resented the King, and the Queen even more. There was only one thing in the world that the Queen wanted but could not have.a child. She prayed for a little girl with her golden hair and big sapphire eyes.
On a routine trip into town, the wheel of the Queen's carriage came loose and needed emergency repair. The Queen, very angry at the mishap and angrier so at the fact that she had to stand among the peasants, went into a horrible fit. Her tirade sent all of the people fleeing in every direction, leaving her alone with her guard and horseman. Now there was no one to help the horseman repair the wheel. The Queen, finally realizing that she had no choice but to wait, entered the shop of a nearby shoemaker. The shoemaker's window showcased many pretty styles of shoes and she decided that she would acquire a few pairs while she was "forced" to wait.
The gentle, handsome shoemaker showed her many shoes, most of which she took. But of course, she wanted an even better pair. As the shoemaker was fitting her for a custom-made shoe, she slipped and scrapped her leg on his hammer that lay nearby.
