a prince under a spell
Ret's ESL Jokes
A prince was put under a spell so that he could speak only one word each year. If he chose not to speak for a year, he could carry those unused words forward. So, if he remained silent for two years, he could say two words in the third year, and so on.
One day, he fell in love with a beautiful lady. To express his feelings properly, he refrained from speaking for two whole years. Then, in the third year, he used his saved words to say, “My darling”.
But he wasn’t done. He wanted to tell her that he loved her — so he waited another three years without uttering a word. After those long, silent years, he said, “I love you”.
Then came the big question. He decided to ask her to marry him — but to do so, he had to wait four more years. At the end of these nine years of silence, he took the lady to the most romantic spot in the kingdom and finally said, “My darling, I love you! Will you marry me?”
The lady looked at him and said, “Pardon me?”
Vocabulary
Refrain from: to deliberately stop oneself from doing something.
Utter: to say something aloud.
He refrained from speaking for years.
He did not utter a single word.
Grammar Focus
The joke mainly uses past simple for narration, with conditional structures to explain the spell.
Past simple: He fell in love and waited for years.
Second conditional (rule of the spell): If he remained silent, he could say more words later.
Synonyms & Alternatives
Refrain from: hold back, abstain from.
Utter: pronounce, voice.
Mini Dialogue
Oliver: I refrained from speaking all day during the meeting.
Hannah: Why didn’t you utter a word?
Oliver: If I stayed silent, I could carry my arguments forward.
Hannah: Well, next time, just speak up!