Once upon a time there was a princess named Rugbeater who lived in the Kingdom of Cephalpod. Her mother, the queen, was getting on in years and Rugbeater was soon to take the throne.

One day she was picking flowers in the royal meadow when a cloud came down from the sky to meet her.

"Oh," she said, "what sort of fog is this? It came down so suddenly!"

"MY NAME IS WISPYWART," boomed the cloud's voice all around her. "I HAVE DESIRED TO MARRY A PRINCESS FOR A LONG TIME. WILL YOU PERMIT ME TO COURT YOU?"

It was rather unorthodox, but the princess bravely nodded her head. "But you must bring me five golden pebbles, as is the tradition of royal courtship in our Kingdom."

The fog lifted--the cloud had moved away, up into the sky.

The princess had lied about the golden pebbles. But, a month later, the cloud came back, settling all over the castle. The princess and the head of the guards were having breakfast in the royal dining room at the time.

A wisp of fog drifted in throught the window, and onto the table blew five golden ovoids, clattering to a halt in front of the princess. "LO, I HAVE BROUGHT YOU FIVE GOLDEN PEBBLES PLUCKED FROM THE HEADS OF THE FIVE GIANTS OF THE MOUNTAINS," boomed the cloud.

"Oh my," said the princess involuntarily.

"WE SHALL NOW BE MARRIED?" boomed the cloud hopefully.

The princess acquiesed, with reluctance. The ceremony took place the following week, and they went on their honeymoon to far-off Cloudistan, a country made entirely out of cloud. The princess spent her time on the top of the mountain where the coast of Cloudistan touched the earth.

"Brrr, Wispywart, mayn't we spend some time on an island somewhere?" the princess said as she shivered.