1. The story of
Juliet & her Romeo

2. nce there was a great city in northern Italy called Verona
nce there was a great city in northern Italy called Verona. It was a prefect city with grape farms, rolling hills, and beautiful monasteries O
surrounding the city and a castle keep. Verona had a powerful and wise king with three sons. The first son was the heir to the throne and is whom this story is concerned with. One day, just outside the Verona castle walls, under his favorite tree sat our Prince who carefully readied quill to paper; when an old farmer ran up and knocked over the Prince’s ink all over his paper.

3. Note: From a 9th century tome of a Saint of Verona whose church is still standing today.
A Church of Verona
Prince Escalus of Verona

4. “Why have you disturbed my writing” said the Prince in the nicest way he could. The farmer nervously pardoned himself and said, “My Prince, the Montagues and the Capulets are fighting in Verona and two men have already fallen and more while I came here to tell you.” Three times this week our Prince had to deal with these Montagues and Capulets and he was sick of it. He hated the very names of the demon families. He looked to see the sun in the sky; it was about time for a meal and he was going to miss it.

5. As he came closer to the crowd nobody paid any attention to him
As he came closer to the crowd nobody paid any attention to him. “Right now I would like some Montague stew with Capulet on top” said the Prince in a soft, demon like, voice. He then yelled at the top of his voice “Rebellious Subjects, you are a bunch of worthless beast and I hope that you will be boiled in the hottest acid for your stupidity this week. Three times this week there has been a fight started by worthless slaves and in the end cost innocent lives of Verona.” As our Prince pulls Lord Capulet by the hair and yells in his ear “You shall come with me now and face the punishment that I have planned for you.”

6. Then pulls Lord Montague’s shirt, for he is bald, and yells “ And you shall come later and face my dire wrath.” As he let go of Montague’s shirt, our Prince only just began to think of the cruel things he would do to Capulet. But though he wanted to be cruel, especially because he destroyed his beautiful poetry, he was nice to poor old Capulet. “The next brawl, fight or even an insult from one family to the other in the streets of Verona will cost the lord of the beginner of the fight 100 Liras” explained the Prince. “And if the other family reacts 50 Liras from their lord.”

7. A Graveyard in Verona
Prince Escalus

8. He then let go of Capulet’s hair and then our Prince, trying to be polite again, invited him over for dinner. Capulet, brushing back his horribly messed up hair, accepted. Our Prince just then realized that he needed to bring the two families together for the peace of the great city of Verona. The next day he told the Montagues the same thing and invited them over on the same day at the same time as the Capulets. “I will then force them to come to a agreement or they shall stay there till the end of time” thought the Prince wickedly.

9. As he plotted his plot, Paris walked in the room
As he plotted his plot, Paris walked in the room. “Prince, you have been in this room far too long; it is already near a late lunch” said Paris, “and besides Mercutio is arguing with Benvolio about which color of chess pieces wins more often.” As they walked out of the room they laughed so much that they almost flew off the ground. That day the Prince noticed something different in Paris like he was in love with someone but the Prince couldn’t decide to whom it was. An hour before dinner; Paris left after Mercutio and Benvolio.

10. The next day the Prince, enjoying the beautiful day, heard the gate open. “The Guest!” How could he have forgotten his hideously evil plan. Almost like a dark cloud coming over a merry picnic or if his living soul had just grown a dark spot of corruption; he suddenly had this evil look over his eyes. “They shall pay for what they have done” thought our Prince; but that day, only Lord Montague came. He had wished to make both sides end their mindless feud, “Maybe pulling Capulet’s hair was a little too much,” thought our Prince.

11. Chapter 2,
The Unlucky
Feast

12. L ater in the day when our Prince
waited for his revenge, Paris arrived at the castle of the king of Verona, where our Prince lives. Right as Paris walked into the main hallway of the castle, he heard a loud pounding noise from the dining hall. Paris, who was quite annoyed, ran in to see Prince Escalus ordering a bunch of peasants to nailing down two chairs at the head of the table. In a surprised voice Paris said “ What are you ‘good’ people doing.” The Prince, greatly in surprise, said “ Paris, I had no idea that you where coming”- long pause- “come now let us play a round of chess.”

13. Paris, a little uneasy about the Prince’s attitude, accepted
Paris, a little uneasy about the Prince’s attitude, accepted. At the start of the game, Paris, who was getting lost in the moment, asked, “Have you loved someone but they don’t love you?” The Prince, who was too busy on the game to pay any attention whatsoever to Paris, mumbled “I can’t wait to see the look on Capulet’s face when he has to sign the deal.” As the Prince did his move, Paris, who was not paying any attention to the Prince, said, “well I did fine before Juliet came into my life but, strangely, I never will be the same again.”

14. The Chess Game
Prince Escalus

15. While Paris was thinking about his turn, our Prince thought aloud, “I will make the two lords wish they where never born if they don’t agree.” Then Paris said in a loud voice, “I love her and she’s gone” at the same time the Prince said also in a loud voice, “I will torture them till the end of there days if they don’t follow my will!” An awkward silence fell upon the room. Suddenly a servant ran into the room yelling, “ Lord Capulet is here, Me lord.” The Prince got up and said to the servant “ Did you bring two working pair of shackles from the dungeon?”

16. “Here they are, me lord,” said the servant as he held the two shackles; for he was a very strong servant. Paris, who had just stopped crying from remembering Juliet, said, “Lord Capulet, the glorious father of the charming Juliet, is here! Right now?” Then the Prince said madly “This will have to wait; I have a dinner to attend to.” Then the Prince left the room hastily and moved towards the dinning hall.

17. As if fate had turned against the Prince, a messenger came from the house of Montague saying the Lord Montague couldn’t come because his best shirt was torn and he didn’t have any other to wear and that he was sorry and if it was a meeting of any sort of importance he wished all the information be sent to him by letter.
“Great, now I have to tell the guards to let the demonic Capulet come and go as he pleases and I have to also invite Paris.” thought our Prince, “this day must be really unlucky.”

18. Chapter 3,
The Day of Shadow

19. The moment the Prince woke up he had a feeling that today would be really bad. Soon after the Prince had eaten breakfast, Mercutio came up to him and said, “Why have a face that has gloom?” The Prince then said, “Something wrong is going to happen today, I can feel it in my blood.” Mercutio, almost like a trickster, said, “ but one can’t feel blood.” The Prince, who didn’t know how to respond, left confused. Mercutio, who was bored of the Prince’s wit, left to find Benvolio.

21. The Prince, who was weary of the day, went off to finish his conversation with Paris, “A member of my family falling in love with a Capulet, humph!” thought the Prince, as he called for Paris. As soon as Paris arrived, the Prince started arguing, “Things come and go in our life. It is the very same with people. So I suggest that you totally forget Juliet. It saves me a lot of trouble.” Paris looked madly at the Prince and said, “I can remember who ever I want. Your not the king of Verona yet, and if I have to I will bring this up to the king.” The Prince, most offended by Paris’s words, dismissed Paris by a wave of his hand.

22. After he left, the Prince said“ He will pay dearly for those words” But before he could do anything, Mercutio ran up to him and said, “Have you seen Benvolio?” The Prince, more angrily than a chained bear, yelled, “I don’t care about Benvolio. Can you just go off and kill yourself; go and leave me alone!” Mercutio, extremely confused and hurt, saw Benvolio walking by the castle wall and then went up to him. The Prince, realizing how the feud even affected him, went off to stop this feud peacefully. As he was going to the House of Montague, the Prince over heard a peasant say, “…there, a blooming duel and everyone’s going, how improper!...”

23. The Prince then furiously went out to find the duel and stop it himself. He searched, but couldn’t find the duel until he hear loud screams, “… a Plague on both your house! A Plague!” He had heard that voice before… Mercutio! Suddenly memories of the last conversation he had with Mercutio flooded the Prince’s mind. “Mercutio wouldn’t go start a fight. Wait I told him ‘to get himself killed’.

24. I am so horrible,” when the Prince finished speaking he ran to where the fight had started and there lay Tybalt, the nephew of Lord Capulet, and there stood Benvolio. “Who did this!” said the Prince pointing too the two dead bodies. Benvolio then started, sorrowfully to explain, “Tybalt and Mercutio were dueling and Romeo tried to stop them but in the end Tybalt killed Mercutio. Romeo, then drew his sword and kill Tybalt out of vengeance and then fled the scene.” The Prince thought “Romeo, the son and heir of Lord Montague, will die before the sun sets.”

25. Then Lord Montague, begging to the Prince said, “the law says that the punishment of killing someone is death, so Tybalt would have been killed by the law for killing Mercutio anyway. So please don’t kill Romeo for this crime.” The Prince was about to say “Get the executioners axe” but he realized that Romeo was there for Mercutio even during a duel to the death, while the Prince, his own kinsman, and he wouldn’t even listen to Mercutio. So he said, “You are right Lord Montague, so instead he shall be banished from Verona.”

26. As the Prince walked home, for he didn’t care about diplomacy of the feud, he thought about the last talk he had with Mercutio. “‘Alone’ is such a lonely word to die on,” said our Prince sadly. “I should have never been so mean and selfish to Mercutio.” As soon as the Prince reached the castle Paris told him, “I don’t care what you say about Juliet I am going to marry her, tonight I ask Capulet for her hand and he shall not say no.” As Paris walked out of the room the Prince tried to stop him and tell him off Mercutio’s death but couldn’t stop him before he left.

27. The Prince then told everyone, except for Paris for he was at the house of Capulet, at dinner that Mercutio died and afterwards he wept for the rest of the night.

28. Chapter 4, The News of House Capulet

29. An hour after breakfast, Paris came and tried to tell everyone in the castle, except the Prince, of what happen the night before. The Prince, curious about what Paris was talking about, went out to go hunt Paris down and ask him on what was going on. When he finally caught up Paris, the Prince asked, “Paris, what in the name of Verona is going on” Paris replied suspiciously, “nothing” and continued to whisper in a servant’s ear. The servant said words like “no… you don’t say…I feel so happy for you…” and then left. Paris then tried to leave before the Prince said anything. The Prince, who was still depressed by the events from yesterday, decided to stop Paris from leaving “Paris, can you just say it?”

30. Paris realized that the Prince would find out one day or another, so he told him, “ I am getting married in two more days, to the most prettiest girl in the world,*sigh* Juliet, and the party’s tomorrow; and she’s so pretty and kind….”The Prince, who almost fell asleep three times during Paris's speech, finally interrupted, “Paris! Please shut up. There’s something I need to tell you. Mercutio died yesterday and Tybalt killed him.” Paris, whose smile turned to a frown, ran out the room crying, for the Prince was the only person who told him of Mercutio’s death. The Prince was about to leave when a messenger from House Capulet ran up to the Prince, “please tell me where I may find a man called Paris.” The Prince pointed to the

31. room where Paris ran into; as the Prince left he heard, “Tomorrow
room where Paris ran into; as the Prince left he heard, “Tomorrow! get me the finest suit, I am going to see Juliet!” The next thing he knew, Paris was running down the hallway as happy as can be. “One day he’ll realize that he is making a great mistake.” said the Prince.

32. Chapter 5,
The Darkest Days

33. The next day the servants were making the last touches on Paris’s outfit; when our Prince finally made a plan to wipe out the fight of the two families. Since it takes two to feud; the Prince would start a war between two families. The king would send a platoon of soldiers to end the fight. The army would send the families armies retreating in a northern valley in Verona. Even if the two families joined forces, they would be crushed and Verona would finally have peace.

34. “Servant please get me the greatest assassin in the land,” whispered the Prince very softly to his personal servant, “... and if you tell a living soul of this…”as the Prince finished speaking, he pulled out a very sharp scimitar and started rubbing his thumb on the flat part of the blade. “I made a promise never to hurt a defenseless person; we would not want to break that promise. Would we?” he said evilly. The servant shook his head nervously and quickly ran out the door. The Prince then went off to see Paris, the husband to be. The tailoring of Paris’s outfit for the wedding had just been finished.

35. Paris, who was very pleased with his outfit, went to go see how others liked his dashing new clothes. When the Prince finally met up with Paris, Paris ask, “Which hat is better; the feathered one or the beaded one?” Before the Prince could answer a messenger from house Capulet rushed in and yelled at Paris,“ Juliet died over night, you must come, quick!” Paris, trying not to believe what the servant said, followed the servant. When Paris returned, his face looked like the saddest face in the whole city of Verona.

36. When the Prince found Paris, he was in his room crying about Juliet
When the Prince found Paris, he was in his room crying about Juliet. “Poor Juliet, why does my wife to be have to die on her wedding day. It was going to be the best day of my life and instead it is the worst,” cried Paris. The Prince, not knowing what to say to Paris, decided that it was best to leave him alone until tomorrow. When tomorrow came, Paris visited the Capulet tome and stayed there for half the day. Before Paris arrived, the servant came with an assassin of great skill.

37. The assassin was a very shadowy figure and never took off his hood the entire time. “Your slave tells me you have a great reward for a job; how much are you willing to pay me.” The Prince held out 500 Liras. The assassin said, “What’s the job?” Before the Prince could say anything though, Paris walked in the room and said, “ Oh Prince it is horrible. With Juliet’s dead body just lying there.” As soon as Paris walked in the room the assassin seemed to have disappeared. “Paris, fate has many eyes and always in the end, fate will favor those who have a good heart.” The Prince, amazed at his sudden wisdom, walked Paris outside.

38. As soon as the Prince had a chance he returned, and assassin emerged from the shadows.
“ I want you to start a war between the families Capulet and Montague, and after each of your missions come and report beck to me.” said the Prince.
The assassin then disappeared back into the shadows. The Prince, a little disturbed about the creepiness of the assassin, went off to go get a good night’s rest.
When the next day came, Paris seemed a little less weighted down and the Prince waited for the assassin to answer. “ In the end, fate always favors those who have a good heart,” thought the Prince.

39. “But what I’m doing is for the good off Verona
“But what I’m doing is for the good off Verona.” he thought later in the day. Then later, a thought appeared, “But did you think of the people that will die in your plan?” Soon after dinner another thought came into the Prince’s mind “ How else could the peace of Verona be achieved?” And he fell asleep trying to find out how else could the idea of the feud of the families to be ended. The Prince awoke with a peasant at his door yelling, “Me lord, Come quick !” The Prince, confused, followed the peasant out of the castle and into the graveyard of the Capulets.

40. “Why did you bring me hear. ” said the Prince
“Why did you bring me hear?” said the Prince. “People call in the streets ‘Juliet’, ‘Paris’ and ‘Romeo’. So I would really like to know what is going on hear,” said Lord Capulet. “Look, here is County Paris slain, and here is Romeo.” Said a Watchman. “Paris, dead! Oh no what a horrible week, first Mercutio now Paris,” thought the prince. “ O my word, hear is, my daughter Juliet, dead with fresh blood.” said Lady Capulet. “Montague, come and see your son Romeo,” said the Prince as Lord Montague ran into the graveyard.

41. “Oh what a horrible night, my wife had died a few hours ago
“Oh what a horrible night, my wife had died a few hours ago.” cried Lord Montague. The Prince, hoping that Lady Montague’s death had nothing to do with him, turned to the leader of the watchmen and asked, “Do you know what happen here?” The Watchman then said, “ No, but we have found some people who might know.” And they brought forth a Old Friar. Then the friar said, “ Their lies Romeo, husband to Juliet. I married them on the day Tybalt died so Romeo was banished.

42. Juliet was then forced to marry Paris and came to me for help and if I did not help her she plan to kill herself. So I gave her a potion that stimulated death, and faded off after two days. While she return home, I wrote to Romeo in Mantua and gave the letter to Friar John. Friar John couldn’t deliverer the letter to Romeo and returned it. So I came to the grave to get Juliet before Romeo came here and killed himself which I arrived too late. I shall take all of the blame.”
The Prince, understanding the Friars story, pointed at the servant and said, “Speak young man,”
The servant said, “I am the servant of Romeo and I told him of Juliet’s death.

43. and then he brought be here and told me that if I was to go spy on him and he found out; he would kill me. He also gave me this letter to give to Lord Montague.” The Prince then toke the letter and opened it up. It said how Romeo was in love with Juliet and how the good Friar Lawrence married them and how he finally, in a new eye, saw the Capulets as real people and worth of being lords of Verona. And that his death was caused by the strongest poison an apothecary had. As the Prince gave the letter to the Lord Montague, he thought, “ why must a good soul die like this?” Then the Prince said, “this makes good the Friars words.

44. It says that he came here to die with Juliet and that his death was caused by the strongest poison. See what your feud has done? It is the core cause of your own children's death! An there happiness was destroyed so much that they killed themselves, All are punished!” Then, almost as if the light of heaven shone down, Lord Capulet said, “ Oh bother Montague give me your hand. What can I do to repay for the crimes I have done to your son.” “I can give more,” said Montague, “I will raise a statue of Juliet of gold.” “And I will do the same for Romeo,” said Capulet.

45. The Prince was shocked, no bit of any hate, logic or even power brought the families together. No, the good hearts of Romeo and Juliet brought the families together and fate shall favor them till the end of time.
What happen to the Assassin? Well now that is another of the Great Tales of Verona.