The Prince Who Lost His Pants by D.F. Zaman
The Prince Who Lost His Pants is a comic, urban fairytale that is funny on the surface but which deals with important themes such as gossip culture and how this can get out of control and cause harm to innocent people if targets of defamation are not given a right to reply and to seek their rights. Given that it is a book for children, the topic is dealt with in a light hearted way.
The book has a great deal of allegory and symbolism for the more discerning reader under the surface layer of comedy. It looks at corruption, crime and the need for integrity and good leadership to protect people from injustice and abuse.
All of this is done is a light hearted way given that it is a book aimed at children, albeit older children.
Given the nature of the themes in the book, it may also appeal to some adults.
Excerpt from The Prince Who Lost His Pants © Copyright 2023 D.F. Zaman
David realised from the horrified looks on people’s faces that something was wrong and it wasn’t just the looks of horror on their faces that did it either. It was the sudden chill around his legs, the sudden shock of icy cold wind biting into his legs which were slowly beginning to freeze in the cold December air. He looked down at his legs to see the reason why and realised with horror that his legs were completely bare and there, lying at his feet in an untidy heap were…. his pants!
“Oh my God!” he gasped silently to himself. “Oh my good God!”
Suddenly, for no good reason at all, it appeared that David’s pants (trousers) had fallen down. All the press men were now furiously taking pictures of David, the future king of Britain, standing in the snow in…… his underpants!
David gasped and flushed a crimson red as desperately, he tried to pull his pants up! “Oh my God, I will never be able to live this down,” he muttered under his breath as he frantically, pulled his trousers up. “I have got to get my pants back up before too many people notice!” he thought but deep down, he knew it was too late! People had already noticed. As if to make the point, some people in the crowd looked away out of embarrassment.
Others tried bravely to keep their chins up and smiled politely as if they hadn’t noticed but David could tell from the embarrassed looks in their eyes that they most definitely had!
Then horror of horrors, came the horrifying discovery that no matter how many times David pulled his pants up, they fell right back down again! He could not keep them up!
This was a dreadful situation. This was terrible. David was distraught. He knew he was in danger of becoming a laughing-stock. After all, how could a prince be a prince and a future king in his underpants with no trousers?
This… was a disaster!
David could hear mutterings of disapproval growing from among the formerly friendly crowd that now seemed to be turning against him!
“Outrageous behaviour!” said a grumpy looking man with a huge moustache and an oversized grey overcoat, “not fitting at all for a prince to be standing around in his underpants like this in broad daylight!”
“A prince with no pants!” sneered another, “It’s unheard of! What is the world coming to? It wasn’t like that in MY day!”
“You can’t crown a man king in his underpants! It’s not possible! It’s not traditional,” cried another. “He’ll have to be replaced if he doesn’t want to wear pants!”
And so, it went on and on and on. One by one, the crowd of people who had been so friendly to David now turned their backs on the poor innocent prince one after another.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, there was worse to come! The next day the newspapers were covered in shocking headlines!
“Playful Prince Likes to Flash his Pants,” screamed one headline!
“Prince David Wears Union Jack Knickers!” shouted another.
“Pantless Prince’s Underwear Shame!” reported another.
“Say no to the prince who says no to pants!” announced another journalist in his article about the incident.
And so, it went on and on and on. It was horrendous.
Poor Prince David’s life became an absolute misery. He couldn’t go outside his door for the steely, disapproving looks of hostile people and cruel chants by cheeky roadside builders of “Wot no pants? Wot no pants? Wot no …Wot no… Wot no pants?”
My profession is online marketing and development (10+ years experience), check my latest mobile app called Upcoming or my Chrome extensions for ChatGPT. But my real passion is reading books both fiction and non-fiction. I have several favorite authors like James Redfield or Daniel Keyes. If I read a book I always want to find the best part of it, every book has its unique value.
