The Prince and the Pauper: A Retelling for Curious Readers

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The opening of The Prince and the Pauper: A Retelling for Curious Readers, free to read.

1. 

   Two Boys, One Face

   Bonfires blazed and people danced in the streets of old London. A baby prince had been born to King Henry the Eighth! He was Edward, Prince of Wales, and all of England wanted him. That same autumn day, in a dark attic, another baby boy was born, to a poor family named Canty, who did not want him. They called him Tom. He was a pauper, a very poor boy. Nobody danced for Tom.

2. 

   Tom’s whole family lived in one bare room of a tumbledown house in Offal Court, a crowded lane off Pudding Lane. Every day Tom had to go out begging. If he came back empty-handed, his father, a thief named John Canty, beat him, and his mean old grandmother joined in. But his mother hugged him, and his twin sisters, Bet and Nan, were gentle and kind.

3. 

   “Make way for the prince!” cried the ragged boys of Offal Court, bowing low to Tom. He was playing prince again. He had learned about princes from Father Andrew, a good old priest in the same house, who taught him to read, a little Latin, and wonderful tales. Even grown-ups came to Tom for advice.

4. 

   Tom’s nose was squashed against the golden bars of the palace gate at Westminster. All his life he had longed to see a real prince, just once, and he had wandered for miles to get here. Now there one stood: a boy in silk and jewels, with a feather in his cap! Then a guard grabbed Tom and flung him into the crowd. “Mind your manners, young beggar!” The people laughed.