The king with dirty feet

We were just talking about folktales at my school library when, serendipitously, a bunch of wonderful new editions of old folktales arrived at my house.

This is a marvelous one. A king goes for a long time without taking a bath. Finally he is urged to bathe, but he is annoyed when his feet get dirty as soon as he gets out of the water. A clever man invents shoes and the problem is solved.

A perfect example of a folktale, with a problem posed, a clever person coming up with a solution, and a history of oral telling of the story over many years.