There once was a prince who was betrothed to a beautiful princess. It was a custom in that land that the princess wears a veil over her entire body, even though she had a dress on underneath, until the day she and the prince consummate their marriage. The King, who was the father of the princess, knowing of her beauty, commissioned a master painter to paint three portraits of her, one in her dress without her veil, one in her undergarments, and one of her in complete nakedness, to assure the prince of her beauty. The prince put two of the portraits in his gallery, the one of her in a dress and the one of her in her undergarments. The portrait of her in her nakedness he kept locked away in his bedchamber. The prince had three friends who he trusted. To these three men, he showed the portrait of the princess in her naked beauty. One man went, and out of respect for the princess, said nothing of what he saw. Another went out around the town, telling all the people of the beauty of the princess. The other man went and attempted to make a copy of the portrait by memory. Having no skills in painting, the portrait of the princess came out looking grotesque. Confident of his work, and proud to be the one to share it with the townspeople, the third man went around showing off his grotesque portrait. A fourth man came along, one who the prince did not know, uninvited, he snuck into the gallery, and he as well attempted to copy the portraits which he saw. He also had no skills in painting, and his portraits turned out grotesque as well. Having also seen the grotesque portrait of the naked princess, he tried to copy it as well, and it turned out even worse than the portrait of the prince’s friend. This fourth man with his three portraits went about the whole kingdom, and made an exhibition of his paintings, charging those to come and see the three portraits of the queen. Intrigued by mystery, many people from all the towns of the kingdom went and were amazed that the supposed beautiful princess that the prince was to marry, was in fact hideous. Word of the ugliness of the princess spread around the whole kingdom, those who loved the king, and his son were ashamed, and those who hated the king mocked the royal family. Word of this matter got back to the prince, and he brought the matter also to his father, the king. The day of the wedding came, and the king ordered every man, woman, and child to be present for the ceremony of the unveiling of the princess. As the veil was lifted, every eye of the kingdom beheld the beauty of the princess. Those who were previously ashamed rejoiced and those who mocked were ashamed. After all this, the day of judgment came for the four men, and they were brought before the king. Each man was made to give a testimony of his actions. The first man said, “I learned of the beauty of the princess, and I knew in a short while the whole kingdom will know as well, so I said nothing.” The second man said, “I learned of the beauty of the princess, and I went out to share the good news with the people, that they may be overwhelmed with excitement for her unveiling.” The third man said, “I learned of the beauty of the princess and wanted to show it to the people. I, as well, wanted them to be excited for her unveiling.” The fourth man was unable to give any account for what he did, for he knew he was guilty. The king said to the first man, “You have acted wisely with respect for royalty, I am to make you viceroy of the whole kingdom.” The king said to the second man “your actions were in honor of the princess, and for this, you will be honored to attend my palace.” The king said to the third man “your actions, and lack of skill brought shame upon the princess in the eyes of the people of my kingdom, and you did this for your own esteem, and for this, you will be made a peasant, a person with low skills and low esteem.” To the fourth man the king said “you are nothing but a thief, and a scoundrel, you are banished from my kingdom forever.”