HOW BIG IS A FOOT?
Written and illustrated by
Rolf Muller
Once upon a time,
there lived a king
and a queen.
They were a happy
couple because they
had everything in
the world.
When the queen’s
birthday was near,
the king had a
problem. He did not
know what to give
to the Queen.
The king
thought very
hard.
The king finally had an idea. He
wanted to give a bed to the queen
because beds were not invented yet at
that time.
The king told
the carpenter
to make a bed
for the queen.
How big is
the bed?
HOW
BIG IS
THE
BED?
The king
thought and
thought.
The king
thought very
hard.
Suddenly the
king had an
great idea!
The bed
must be big
enough to
fit the
queen.
The king called the queen. He told her to
put on her pyjamas and lie on the floor.
2
The king took
off his shoes
and walked
carefully
around the
queen.
3
The bed is 3
feet wide and 6
feet long.
6
5
4
3
1
2
1
The bed must
be 3 feet wide
and 6 feet long
to be big
enough to fit
the queen.
The carpenter took off his
shoes and measured the size
of the bed with his little feet.
What a
beautiful bed!
The king was so angry that he put the
carpenter into jail.
What was the
problem?
I can make a
bed to fit the
queen if I
know the
size of the
king’s foot.
6
5
4
3
2
1
3
2
1
The king took off one shoe and asked
someone to make an exact marble
copy of the king’s foot.
The carpenter took
the marble copy of
the king’s foot.
With it, he measured
3 feet wide and 6
feet long and built a
bed to fit the queen.
I love my
new bed.
The queen fell asleep on the bed
immediately.
The king was very happy and
rewarded the carpenter with money.
From then on, anyone who wanted to
measure anything used a copy of the
king’s foot. Everyone would know
exactly how big it was.