HOW BIG IS A FOOT? BY: ROLF MYLLER The Queen’s birthday was near and the King wanted to come up with a unique birthday gift for his wife. There was no such thing as a bed invented yet, so the King decided to have one made for her.

the bed should be, so he asked the queen to The King had to figure how big the bed should be, so he asked the queen to lie down on the floor and then walked in a circle around her. He measured the length and width of the bed using his feet.

He determined that the bed must be six of his feet long and three of his feet wide. It would be just big enough then to fit the queen— even wearing her crown, which she sometimes wore when sleeping. The King’s apprentice, who happened to be a very small man, was given the job of making the bed.

He worked meticulously and carefully and built the bed using six of his feet for the length of the bed and three of his feet for the width. When the King comes to look at the bed the apprentice created, he discovered that the bed is too small for the queen! The King got very angry that the apprentice couldn’t follow his simple directions and measure correctly, so he threw him into jail.

Why was the bed too small for the Queen Why was the bed too small for the Queen? After days in jail and lots of thinking, the apprentice realized why the bed was too small—his feet are smaller than the King’s feet! The apprentice fixes the measurements and builds a new bed just in time for the queen's birthday. The King is happy with the apprentice that he makes him a royal prince.

Guide questions What is the story all about? Does the apprentice right in using his foot in measuring for the bed of the queen? Why? What have you learned from the story?