Thurber's characters are deftly sketched but not deeply revealed. King Clode lives for hunting and dislikes magic because it interferes with his pursuits. He has lost his wife, also an enchanted princess, probably because he failed to love her as much as the hunt.

He is impatient with stupidity and has a touch of the poet in him, but he distrusts imagination and prefers to live simply and firmly anchored in the real world.

Thag and Gallow are like their father, but with even less imagination. Jorn, the youngest son, has all of his father's poetic side and his mother's power to imagine and love.

Especially entertaining is the cast of clowns that makes up Clode's castle staff. Paz, the new Royal Astronomer, uses rose lenses in his glasses and telescope—everything he sees is pink.

Tocko, the former astronomer, has retired to...