The New Jester

The New Jester

The king was bored. “ Read a book, ” the queen said. “ It’s raining, ” the king said. “ Rain makes me grumpy. ”

“ Dirk, ” said the queen. “ Fetch the new jester. He’ll make the king laugh. ”

Dirk gulped. Then he hurried out. “ Uh-oh, ” thought Tom. “ I think Dirk forgot to hire a new jester. ”

Dirk came back. He was dragging a strange boy. “ Here’s the new jester! ” Dirk said. The boy looked surprised.

“ Make me laugh, ” said the king. “ Um . . . ” The boy looked nervous. “ I can fix things, ” he said. “ Do you have a hole in your bucket?”