Neither of these young people had any parents; the Prince lived with guardians and the Princess with uncles.

The guardians of the Prince were very enterprising and energetic men, and were allowed to govern the country until the Prince came of age.  The capital city was a very fine city when the old king died; but the guardians thought it might be much finer, so they set to work with all their might and main to improve it.  They tore down old houses and made a great many new streets; they built grand and splendid bridges over the river on which the city stood; they constructed aqueducts to bring water from streams many miles away; and they were at work all the time upon some extensive building enterprise.

The Prince did not take much interest in the works which were going on under direction of his guardians; and when he rode out, he preferred to go into the country or to ride through some of the quaint old streets, where nothing had been changed for hundreds of years.

The uncles of the Princess were very different people from the guardians of the Prince.  There were three of them, and they were very quiet and cosey old men, who disliked any kind of bustle or disturbance, and wished that every thing might remain as they had always known it.  It even worried them a little to find that the Princess was growing up.  They would have much preferred that she should remain exactly as she was when they first took charge of her.  Then they never would have been obliged to trouble their minds about any changes in the manner of taking care of her.  But they did not worry their minds very much, after all.  They wished to make her guardianship as little laborious or exhausting as possible, and so, divided the work; one of them took charge of her education, another of her food and lodging, and the third of her dress.  The first sent for teachers, and told them to teach her; the second had handsome apartments prepared for her use, and gave orders that she should have every thing she needed to eat and drink; while the third commanded that she should have a complete outfit of new clothes four times a year.  Thus every thing went on very quietly and smoothly; and the three uncles were not obliged to exhaust themselves by hard work.  There were never any new houses built in that city, and if any thing had to be repaired, it was done with as little noise and dirt as possible.  The city and the whole kingdom were quiet and serene, and the three uncles dozed away most of the day in three great comfortable thrones.

Everybody seemed satisfied with this state of things except the Princess.  She often thought to herself that nothing would be more delightful than a little noise and motion, and she wondered if the whole world were as quiet as the city in which she lived.  At last, she became unable to bear the dreadful stillness of the place any longer; but she could think of nothing to do but to go and try to find the Prince with whom she had eaten a philopena.  If she should win, he must marry her; and then, perhaps, they could settle down in some place where things would be bright and lively.  So, early one morning, she put on her white dress, and mounting her prancing black horse, she rode away from the city.  Only one person saw her go, for nearly all the people were asleep.