The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo and His People

MP3 Audio CD. The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo and His People

The First Surprise

THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY OF MO


I dare say there are several questions you would like to ask at the
very beginning of this history. First: Who is the Monarch of Mo? And
why is he called the Magical Monarch? And where is Mo, anyhow? And
why have you never heard of it before? And can it be reached by a
railroad or a trolley-car, or must one walk all the way?

These questions I realize should be answered before we (that "we" means
you and the book) can settle down for a comfortable reading of all the
wonders and astonishing adventures I shall endeavor faithfully to
relate.

In the first place, the Monarch of Mo is a very pleasant personage
holding the rank of King. He is not very tall, nor is he very short; he
is midway between fat and lean; he is delightfully jolly when he is not
sad, and seldom sad if he can possibly be jolly. How old he may be I
have never dared to inquire; but when we realize that he is destined to
live as long as the Valley of Mo exists we may reasonably suppose the
Monarch of Mo is exactly as old as his native land. And no one in Mo
has ever reckoned up the years to see how many they have been. So we
will just say that the Monarch of Mo and the Valley of Mo are each a
part of the other, and can not be separated.

He is not called the Magical Monarch because he deals in magic--for he
doesn't deal in magic. But he leads such a queer life in such a queer
country that his history will surely seem magical to us who inhabit the
civilized places of the world and think that anything we can not find a
reason for must be due to magic. The life of the Monarch of Mo seems
simple enough to him, you may be sure, for he knows no other existence.
And