The Troll and the Wagon
Once upon a time, there was a troll called Urkt by the other trolls.
He was not the strongest troll, though he was one of the meanest. He was not the biggest or the fastest or the best with a sword.
But he was just a little bit more clever than most other trolls.
The trolls were getting ready to attack the Kingdom. They built many fast ships with big red sails. They built wagons and tall rolling towers and traps to catch their enemies. They even brought giant trolls down from the hills to help them fight the knights of the kingdom far across the sea.
Trolls like fighting, and they like gold even more. So when an evil wizard came to them and promised lots and lots of gold, they said they would fight for him right away. The wizard wanted to take over the Kingdom’s castle, and the trolls were going to help him get it.
Urkt wanted to sail across the sea and fight, too. He was mean and he was clever and he was ready to battle the knights of the Kingdom. But because he was not as strong or as big or as fast as the other trolls, they said he could not go.
It was not fair! But what could one troll do to change their minds?
The trolls were testing their new assault wagons. Each wagon was pulled by a giant troll. It was made to roll across the land very fast to attack the Kingdom’s castle and knights. It could launch big globs of sticky tar to make enemies stick to the ground. With these wagons, the trolls were sure it would be easy to take over the kingdom.
But there was a problem. The giant trolls did not want to pull the wagons.
The giant trolls were very strong, but they were not very smart. And they were very, very stubborn. Nobody knew how to make a giant troll move if it did not want to.
So the trolls decided to have a race. Whoever could get their giant troll to pull a wagon the fastest would get to be a Troll Captain and lead the attack on the Kingdom!
Urkt knew that this was his big chance. You didn’t need to be strong or big or fast to ride in a wagon. All you had to do was make the giant troll run.
But how?
The race began, but none of the wagons moved. The giant trolls just stood there and looked grumpy. Urkt tried talking to his wagon’s giant troll, but the big guy didn’t say anything. Urkt tried yelling, but that only made the giant troll angry. He even tried poking the giant troll with a stick. That was the worst idea of all, because the giant troll bopped him on the head with its big fist and knocked him right off the wagon. Being mean was not helping Urkt very much. Maybe it was time to be clever instead.
Urkt had an idea.
He got up off the ground and ran away. The other trolls looked at him go. They were confused. Where was that troll going? Was he giving up the race?
When Urkt came back, he had a big bag over his shoulder. He put the bag down and took out a long pole. He took out some rope. And finally, he took out a roasted turkey leg.
Now the other trolls were REALLY confused. What was Urkt going to do with all of those things?
Urkt got back up on his wagon. He took the rope and tied it to the end of the pole. Then he took the turkey leg and tied it to the rope. What he made looked like a big fishing pole…but with a turkey leg for bait!
He held the pole up over the giant troll’s head. The turkey leg hung in front of the giant troll. The giant troll’s stomach rumbled. It wanted that tasty food!
The giant troll reached out its long arms, but the turkey leg was just out of reach. It took a step forward, but it still couldn’t quite reach the leg. It took another step, and then another, but the turkey leg always stayed just out of reach.
The wagon wheels started to turn. The giant troll was pulling it along as it walked!
The giant troll walked faster and faster, still trying to get that food. Soon it was running, and Urkt’s wagon rolled along right behind it. The other wagons stood still behind him. His was the only one that was moving.
Urkt was the new Captain…and the trolls finally knew how to make their wagons go!