One day in Gotham, a few miles southwest of Nottingham in England, the villagers gathered in the square. The new king planned to visit the village that day, and they were there to greet him. He sent his servants to make sure the village was safe to visit.

It was a beautiful day. The sun shone and a slight, chilly breeze blew. Г≮ㄓWｗW.ｆａｉｒＹ-ｔａLE。INfoQ

Then the barber looked west and saw the distant hills draped in snow. "Look at that!" the barber cried. "The hills are glistening!"

Everyone turned to look at the beautiful snow. Then they looked down at the ground under their feet, and there they saw tufts of spindly grass and patches of dirt. And near the stream that ran through the village, they saw that the banks were nothing but mud.

ǔさBwＷＷ.faIｒy-talＥ.InfＯ말ㄊ

"How I wish snow would cover this mess," said the village farrier. "My horses' hooves are so muddy."

YkｗWｗ．ＦaＩrｙ－tAｌＥ．InｆＯヴЕ

"And my carriage is forever getting stuck in the mud," the grocer agreed. "How lovely it would be to have some snow here."

Everyone nodded. At that moment nothing seemed more pleasing than those hills covered in snow.  ゑ3ＷｗＷ。Ｆａｉrｙ-ｔａＬＥ．IＮfＯJ

"I have it," the mayor said, stroking his beard. "We'll move the village to the snow."

ЕlネＷwＷ.FaＩRＹ－TaｌＥ.ＩnFｏ9gムД|

"Yes!" the barber agreed. はUㄛむQwwｗ．Ｆａiｒｙ-TａLE。ＩnｆＯ⌒(ちニK

The servants listened closely, for this conversation was puzzling.

"We must move west!" said the mayor. "After all, the sun lives in the east. It's very hot there. Snow never falls in the east." ｗWｗ.ＦAＩｒＹ－ｔａｌE.IｎＦO!ソふ∪òㄋc

"No one can live in such a place," the schoolteacher said. "It would never do for my pupils, who would never sleep, and those who do not sleep cannot learn."

"Indeed," everyone said.

ǐfWｗw.fＡIＲY－ｔaＬE。inFOM±pゅūそ

The king's servants stared at each other. "So these are the fools of Gotham," said the first servant. ゑ3ＷｗＷ。Ｆａｉrｙ-ｔａＬＥ．IＮfＯJ

 "Indeed," the second servant whispered. "All those rumors must be true."

IフwＷｗ．ｆＡiRＹ－ＴａLＥ.Ｉnfo/ン

There had long been rumors about the people of Gotham. The village was composed of lunatics and fools, people said. There was one instance, they said, where the people had tried to drown an eel to teach it a lesson for eating all the fish in the stream. Drown an eel! ¤wＷｗ．FAｉｒY－Tａle。ＩＮｆoヵzサuí

So now the new king's servants conferred. "What do you think?" the first man asked. "Wise men or fools?"

wｗw。ｆaIRＹ－tａＬE.InｆＯ

Then they looked up and saw that all the villagers were gathering at the eastern end of town, and there they were pushing against the tallest building. λセěㄒwwｗ.ＦAIｒy-tａLｅ。Iｎfoみ€

The servants approached the mayor. "What are you people doing?" the servants asked. +WWＷ。FAｉrｙ-ＴＡＬｅ。ＩNＦOちょ낱ツ≡ゃū

"We're moving west," the mayor said. "We're moving to a place where snow falls." ЕWww.fＡｉry-TaＬe.ｉNFｏ

The servants looked at each other. "Let us go tell the king what we've seen," the first servant said. eな』めWＷW．ｆAＩRｙ－tALＥ.ｉＮFo&

"Tell the king to visit us after we've moved," said the mayor. "That way his carriage's wheels won't sink in the mud!" The servants quickly rode back to the palace to tell the king what they had witnessed.

Zo9ミσwWW．ＦＡiRｙ－ＴALｅ。ｉNFoìj∩υS

"I do not wish to visit a village of fools," said the new king. "We will stay here today."

ョwww。ｆＡＩRＹ－tＡLｅ．iｎfｏˊ

So you decide, are the people of Gotham fools? Or are they, in fact, truly wise?

∈ねＷｗw。FaIRy－TａLe.ＩｎＦＯゃニiò9@