A Heart So Pure

So it was decreed to this date and time
A quest for all princes, only that of a sound mind
To journey to a perilous cave in a faraway land
And kill the beast in exchange for the princess hand

The first to come was prince Vlad the Strong
With tales of might and his personal gong
Second comes prince Brad the Wise
Full of exotic wisdom and colorful lies

Through all this brouhaha the princess despairs
For of her heart only one ever truly bears
Twas Mark the Farmer of which she yearns
His name she whispers when she tosses and turns

Mark the farmer with an equal despair to match
Can do nothing but clutch his heart and watch
For in this quest his soul's in a knot
For all that he is, alas, a prince he is not

To kill the beast within the cave
Help is given to those who brave
For at the cave entrance a fungus resides
That changes a person, but once, on whatever he decides

Of the magic fungi , three piles are seen
One big one small and one a tad more lean
Inscribed is the test in the walls therein
Of this pile you must choose one equal to the purity within

Vlad went in all flex and might, of the lean pile he ate
Wanting to change nothing, but he thought too late
For his heart was full of glory and greed as he drops and thinks
The he saw the written curse of death, twas a clause written in tinier inks

Brad the Wise tried to win with lack of scruples and wiles
Picked the the medium pile he did to change the way he smiles
Of rude intentions he must have, for into a beast he turned as soon as he ate
A hyena so hideous  but with a smile that was nothing but fake

Mark the farmer stormed the cave out of desperation and love
Thinking that he would at least try to be worthy of his girl,of his dove
Of the pile he chose the biggest of all, thinking his love is full
And if this turns out to be not so then his life is just, well, just bull

On the day of waiting the princess is quite a mess
Of Mark she has no word, it is a cause for distress
But wait whos this that walks towards her so handsome and radiant
Then the town crier shouts "hooray for the beastslayer, prince Mark the Valiant.