The story tells of a good yet boring king who is tricked into marrying one of his courtiers daughters, who brings excitement into his dull kingdom.

One day some of his courtiers, one of whom is the Professor of Practical Jokes, approach him and suggest he find himself a wife in order to bring excitement to the kingdom.

He realizes that he would like a wife who speaks, and guided by the Wise Woman of the Wood, he decides to return and admit his foolishness to Lady Whimsical.

Primarily a journalist, Evelyn Sharp also wrote fantasy, novels, an account of dance, studies of children, a biography, an autobiography and a comic libretto.

[2] According to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature "Evelyn Sharp's collections Wymps and Other Fairy Tales (1897) and All the Way to Fairyland (1897), are contrasting works that take pleasure in turning things upside-down.

Sharp enjoyed writing "anti-fairies", whom she called 'wymps', which emphasized common themes of people playing practical jokes and causing chaos".