Mig tries to put her hope into words

“Uncle?” [Mig] said.

“Eh?”

“I saw some human stars today.”

“How’s that?”

“I saw them all glittering and glowing and there was a little princess wearing her own crown and riding on a little tippy-toed horse.”

“What are ye going on about?” said Uncle.

“I saw a king and a queen and a itty-bitty princess,” shouted Mig.

“So?” shouted Uncle back.

“I would like . . .” said Mig shyly. “I wish to be one of them princesses.”

“Har,” laughed Uncle. “Har. An ugly, dumb thing like you? You ain’t even worth the enormous lot I paid for you. Don’t I wish every night that I had back that good hen and that red tablecloth in place of you?”

I think it’s fair to say that Mig got the shaft in the movie mainly for that reason: She’s ugly and poor. In a story with so much cute or pretty or at least complex characters, the filmmakers weren’t that concerned with someone like Mig, who stands in contrast to the royal family, only desiring a home where she’s taken care of, and wishing, like any little girl, to be a princess. She can’t even express that wish in her current situation without being mocked.

“I want to be a princess,” said Mig. “I want to wear a crown.”

“A crown.” Uncle laughed. “She wants to wear a crown,” He laughed harder. He took an empty kettle and put it atop his head. “Look at me,” he said. “I’m a king. See my crown? I’m a king just like I always wanted to be. I’m a king because I want to be one.”

He danced around the hut with the kettle on his head. He laughed until he cried. and then he stopped dancing and took the kettle from his head and looked at Mig and said, “Do ye want a good clout to the ear for such nonsense?”

“No, thank you, Uncle,” said Mig.

But she got one anyway.

“Look here,” said Uncle after the clout had been delivered. “We will hear no more talk of princesses. Besides, who ever asked you what you wanted in this world, girl?”

The answer to that question, reader, as you well know, was absolutely no one.

Next time: A change…