"The Princess and the Poacher" is a tale about an unattractive young man called Hengist who lives with his poor parents. Hengist loves girls, but doesn't dare to approach them knowing that he will only scare them off. He is described as having ape-like appearance, with short stubby legs and long strong arms. He directs his passion elsewhere. Nature and poaching become his main interests, which brings both fear to his parents because the land is owned by the king and other noblemen of the kingdom, but also satisfies their hunger.
Soon enough, Hengist decides that his skills are so perfected that he can poach in the middle of the day. In one of his outings he sees a beautiful maiden. He is frozen in place. He notices the king and his companions approaching. Suddenly, a wild hog starts running towards the maiden. Hengist jumps in front of her and kills the hog.
The maiden is actually the king's only daughter. The king expresses his gratitude towards Hengist and invites him to his castle. There he informs the court that, as a reward for his heroic deed, Hengist is allowed to have sex with every woman in the kingdom, no matter who they are. People complain, but king has to have his way.
Hengist soon realizes that he has no desire for the opposite sex; his desire came from the idea of forbidden fruit. He talks to the king and reveals that he is unhappy because no one likes him there. The princess suddenly bursts out that she likes him. As a matter of fact, she loves him. The princess doesn't care about appearances, and thinks that every man aside from Hengist there is disgusting. The king is happy because he made the right choice.
The main theme of this story is the theme of appearances, and not judging the book by its cover. It reads as a classical fable but with the author's twist to it, which shows his humor and cynical writing.
"Princess Mammalia" is a story about a princess who suddenly wakes up one day to be a shining beauty. This brings a change to her perception of the world. She notices that men are dying for her company, or only to get a glimpse of her. Princess Mammalia realizes the power she possesses with her beauty. She begins to despise the male company and think about taking advantage of her power. She wants to rule the kingdom, but there is her father as the main obstacle. He is the only man who doesn't fall for her beauty.
Mammalia starts to think of a way to get rid of her father. One night she receives a visit by an old beggar who advises her that, if she wants to get rid of someone, poisoned oysters are the best solution. Mammalia decides to use this advice and arrange a meal for her birthday which will contain poisoned oysters for her father.
The king tells the cook to give the best looking oysters to his daughter instead because she is the one to be honored. Mammalia eats the poisoned oysters instead of her father and dies. After her death, the king tells his servants to get rid of the old beggar costume out of his wardrobe because it isn't appropriate for the mourning period.
The main theme of this story is beauty and power and how it corrupts and brings forth greed. In both of these stories, the main characters are kings with their daughters. They portray kings as characters which have complete patriarchal control over their daughters, who in turn are mere shining objects.
