Part I, the Hair and the Bean Summary

The action now jumps to a different place, back in time. King Alobar is awake, even though his wife, Alma, and dog, Mik, sleep soundly. He had another wife named Wren that he now wishes he had sent for instead of Alma. His castle had a slab of polished glass that had come from Egypt. People could see their images in the glass. Alobar was content to leave the glass in the concubine's quarters since the women all liked to look into the glass. He had spared a woman who dropped the glass and broke a corner of it. She later bore him twin sons so he now made it a habit to visit their quarters every new moon. He didn't want the glass to lose its powers. He stared into...