The Tooth of Kingship
Prince Leo, on the verge of becoming king, waits to loose his first tooth to seal the deal.
Long ago in Spain there once lived a young prince named Leo. At only eight years old, Prince Leo was on the verge of becoming King Leo. According to ancient tradition, a prince would be crowned king the morning after losing his first baby tooth.
Secretly, the queen was glad that first tooth was late. Would he really be ready to rule once he lost the first baby tooth?
To delay the inevitable, the queen kept her son indoors where he couldn’t run and tumble, and risk loosening a tooth or knocking it loose.
Leo didn’t mind. What did he know about ruling a kingdom, anyway? Worse, when he became King, he would need to address his subjects and everyone would hear him stutter. What would they think of their new King then?
What would they think of their new King then?
If he could only avoid losing a tooth for a little while longer, maybe his stutter would disappear on its own. He carefully avoided biting into crisp apples and chewy sweets, choosing only soups and soft breads.
While the other children in the land lost their baby teeth, Leo—much to his relief—held on to every last one.
But each week, the whispers in the palace grew louder.
One royal lunchtime, as Prince Leo sat beside the queen, the court advisors grew bolder than ever.
“How much longer must we wait for a lost tooth?” one declared.
“Our kingdom needs a king!” another stewed.
“If he’s so slow to lose a tooth,” warned a third, “what else might he be slow about?”
Prince Leo stared at his soup. He couldn’t speak, not with the stammer that always overtook him in moments like this. Worse, his front tooth was wiggling.
Worse, his front tooth was wiggling.
The queen’s face stayed claim. “A tooth will fall out when it is ready,” she said evenly.
“What if it NEVER falls out?” cried one advisor. “We will never have a king!”
“We should pull out a tooth ourselves and be done with it!” shouted another. “Your Majesty must step aside!” It seemed as if the advisors were actually preparing to rush the queen.
“Th-th-that’s enough!” Prince Leo shouted, leaping to his feet.
“Th-th-that’s enough!” Prince Leo shouted, leaping to his feet.
At that moment, his loose tooth flew from his mouth, ricocheted off the crystal chandelier, and landed with a tiny clink in the middle of the royal table. There it gleamed like a pearl.
Prince Leo gasped and clutched his mouth.
The advisors erupted with cheers. They clapped one another on the back, celebrating their wisdom and excellent timing. “Tomorrow, we’ll crown our king!”
“We’ll hold the coronation ceremony first thing!” they agreed.
That evening, the royal chefs prepared a feast in celebration of the Prince’s lost tooth and his imminent coronation the next morning.
“What shall we do with the princely tooth?” mused one advisor.
“Store it in a jeweled box in the royal treasury?” suggested one court advisor.
“Mint a commemorative coin featuring Leo’s tooth on both sides?” said another.
“I have it!” cried out another advisor. “Let’s set it in Leo’s crown like the precious gem that it is!”
“Let’s set it in Leo’s crown like the precious gem that it is!”
Prince Leo felt a rising panic. Would his mother go along with this nonsense?
“We shall seek the help of Ratón Pérez, the magical Tooth Mouse,” said the queen.
Everyone at court murmured their agreement. “The Tooth Mouse always leaves a surprise when he fetches a tooth,” said one of the advisors.
“For a royal tooth, it should be a rich surprise!” another heartily agreed.
“Wh-wh-who is this Tooth Mouse?” asked Prince Leo, thinking he’d just as soon let Ratón Pérez take the tooth and put the whole situation behind him.
“When a child loses a baby tooth,” said the queen, “they can write a letter to Ratón Pérez and leave it under their pillow. When the child sleeps, the Tooth Mouse comes, reads their letter, takes their tooth, and leaves behind something special in return.”
At the carved desk in his royal bedroom, Prince Leo dipped his golden quill in ink and wrote:
Dear Ratón Pérez,
I need your help with my tooth!
It was short, but what else was there to say? The Prince tucked the letter under his silk pillow, blew out his candle and burrowed into his warm bed. But he could not sleep – his thoughts churned with worry. Eventually, he drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Eventually, he drifted into an uneasy sleep.
In the hush of night, Leo felt something soft brush his forehead. He opened one eye—there before his face stood a tiny mouse with gold-rimmed spectacles, a red satchel slung over its shoulder.
“G-g-good evening,” said the Prince,. “You must be Ratón Pérez, the Tooth Mouse.”
The mouse bowed with great dignity. “Indeed. No doubt you know all about me.”
“Well, yes…” said Prince Leo, not sure how to say he had just found out about him that very evening.
“You’ve lost your first tooth. Tomorrow you will be the king. But tell me,” Ratón Pérez leaned forward, “what could a prince who already has everything need from a magical Tooth Mouse like me?”
Leo swallowed hard. “C-c-can you put my tooth back in?”
“C-c-can you put my tooth back in?”
Ratón Pérez’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What?”
“I-I am not ready to be king,” said Leo.
“Goodness, why not? Anyone would want to be king!”
“I don’t know what I’m s-s-supposed to do when I’m king. And everyone will hear me st-st-stutter. W-Why was I ever born a prince?”
“You were born how you were born,” replied Ratón Pérez. “You can only change what to do with the life you are born into. Besides, once a baby tooth falls out, an adult one is already starting to take its place. No one can go back.”
“If-if you can’t put my tooth back in,” said Leo, “then c-c-could you leave something so sp-sp-special that no one will notice my st-st-stutter during the coronation?”
Ratón Pérez stroked his whiskers thoughtfully. “I might have just the thing. But first, I must collect some teeth from other children in your kingdom tonight. Would you like to join me? I can make you invisible for the journey.”
”I can make you invisible for the journey.”
To a prince who had rarely stepped foot beyond the castle walls, this sounded like a great adventure—and a perfect distraction from his worries.
“I’ll be right with you!” said Leo. He stepped into his warm boots, wrapped himself in a fur cape, and grabbed a leftover caramel apple from the feast—he hadn’t enjoyed crunchy, sticky sweets for a long time. As an afterthought, he set down the apple and pinned his gold brooch to his pajamas – the one his great-great-grandfather had given to him for good luck. He felt better with that brooch on him.
Leo picked up his caramel apple, Ratón Pérez snapped his fingers, and the two disappeared in a swirl of sparkling smoke.
Leo opened his eyes to find himself in a small cottage at the edge of his kingdom. He crossed a creaky floor to a bed where five children slept under a thin blanket. They clutched each other, cuddling for warmth.
“If only I was one of them,” was Prince Leo’s first thought. “Then I wouldn’t have to worry about becoming king tomorrow and embarrassing myself in front of everyone.”
The children shivered and tugged at the blanket back and forth, each trying to cover themselves. “What’s h-h-happening?” said Prince Leo. “Wh-why isn’t their blanket big enough?”
“Wh-why isn’t their blanket big enough?”
“It’s always been this way for them,” said Ratón Pérez. He scurried beneath the worn cover to find the letter and the tooth left for him.
Prince Leo looked out of the frosty window. The spire of his castle glistened in the distance.
With a rustle of tiny paws, Ratón Pérez emerged from under the pillow, clutching a folded paper. He handed it to the prince and dove back under the pillow to search for the tooth.
Prince Leo stood by the window and read the note in the moonlight.
Prince Leo stood by the window and read the note in the moonlight.
Dear Ratón Pérez,
Can you bring back sunny days and warm nights soon?
“I found the tooth!” said Ratón Pérez, brandishing the tooth.
“But the child’s wish is impossible,” said Leo. “N-n-no one can turn winter into summer. Wh-what do you do with such an impossible wish?”
“Let me see,” Ratón Pérez reached into his red satchel and raised a tiny eyebrow. “How strange…”
“Is s-s-something wrong?”
“I seem to have forgotten to pack any treasure tonight. Silly me!”
“I seem to have forgotten to pack any treasure tonight. Silly me!”
“W-wait, I have an idea!” said Prince Leo. He removed his fur cape and draped it over the bed.
The sleeping children settled at once, cozy under the thick fur.
Leo now shivered, his breath forming small clouds in the frosty air. But after all, there were plenty of other capes at the castle.
“There’s one more home to visit tonight,” said Ratón Pérez. “Are you ready?”
“Sure. L-l-let’s go.”
Another snap of the fingers and swirl of smoke, and Prince Leo found himself standing beside a flickering campfire. A boy about his age slept on straw by the flames. There was no house or shelter in sight.
The young Prince had never slept outdoors. He felt a twinge of envy, thinking it looked like great fun. Then another thought occurred to him. “Wh-wh-what if it rains? Wh-where can this b-b-boy go?”
”Wh-where can this b-b-boy go?”
Ratón Pérez didn’t answer but rummaged through the straw until he found the boy’s letter. He handed it to the prince.
Leo tried to read the note by the firelight, but instead of words he saw only lines and scribbles.
“It-it-is written in a language I do not understand. I cannot read it.”
“That’s because this child does not know how to read or write.”
“Th-th-then how can he tell you what he wants for his tooth?”
“He does the best he can,” said Ratón Pérez. “This is the life he was born into.”
“This is the life he was born into.”
The sleeping child’s stomach growled. Prince Leo knew that sound – he might skip a meal from time to time and feel his stomach grumble, but a feast was always waiting for him. Going to bed hungry was something he could not imagine.
He placed his caramel apple by the boy’s head. “Maybe h-he can’t change how he was born, but when he w-wakes up, at least he’ll have a s-surprise.”
Then something else occurred to him. Leo removed his gold good-luck brooch and pinned it to the sleeping child’s tattered shirt, though it hung by its weight. “This b-b-boy needs good luck more than I do. M-m-maybe he can sell it to rent a place to sleep, out of the rain.”
Ratón Pérez put the boy’s tooth in his red satchel. “We must return to the castle at once!” he said. “The sun will soon rise. You need to rest before your coronation.”
“We must return to the castle at once!”
With a snap of his fingers, they vanished again.
When the smoke cleared, Prince Leo was back in his bed. He gazed around the room – shiny, gleaming toys, baskets brimming with balls of all sizes and colors, a bookshelf packed with classic books bound in leather with lettering of pure gold. But no sign of Ratón Pérez.
“Ah-hem!” Ratón Pérez cleared his throat.
The prince turned and saw the magical mouse perched on the headboard just above him. “I must confess,” said the mouse. “I did not forget my magical satchel of treasures tonight. I only said that because I wanted to see what you would do. You were helpful and giving to those children, so now I am ready to give you a proper treasure for your tooth.”
“I-I already have too much,” said Prince Leo, gesturing around the room. “Besides, m-m-my tooth isn’t more special than anyone else’s.”
“You were born a prince and will be king,” said Ratón Pérez, rearing up. “You cannot change that.”
“You cannot change that.”
“B-b-but you said I can ch-change what I do with it,” said Prince Leo. “Listen. Just c-c-come to my coronation tomorrow morning. Th-that’s all I want for the tooth.”
“Very well, if that’s your wish. Then goodnight, Prince.” Ratón Pérez bowed low, and sparkled away into the night.
Prince Leo laid his head down on his pillow and tongued the gap in his teeth until he fell asleep.
Prince Leo laid his head down on his pillow and tongued the gap in his teeth until he fell asleep.
At dawn, he was awakened by the blaring of the palace trumpets. Seconds later, court attendants rushed into his royal bedroom. After much fussing and primping, they dressed him in his elegant coronation robe. The attendants escorted him to the queen, and she led her son to a raised platform outside in the castle courtyard.
The entire kingdom had gathered to witness the historic event. All eyes fixed on the platform where the royal throne awaited its new king.
When Prince Leo stood before the throne, the crowd fell silent. His mother approached, holding the crown.
His mother approached, holding the crown.
“With this crown,” said the Queen in a loud, clear voice, “I grant you the duty of kingship. May you rule our kingdom with wisdom and grace.” The Queen placed the heavy crown on Leo’s head.
The kingdom erupted in thunderous applause. “All hail to King Leo! Speech! Speech!”
Leo looked out over the sea of faces. He spotted the children he had visited the night before.
He spotted the children he had visited the night before.
“In-in my first act as king,” he began, stepping forward, “I-I invite all the people of our ki-ki-kingdom to join us for a feast. A-a-all of them!”
Murmurs of amazement rippled through the crowd.
“That is not how things are done, my King!” one advisor whispered rather loudly. “We can’t feed ALL of them!”
“No-no one will be hungry in this l-l-land,” continued King Leo to the crowd. “And I-I declare that every p-p-person in the kingdom will get an education and l-l-learn to r-r-read.”
“This is DEFINITELY not how things are done!” called out another advisor in a panic.
“Your majesty!” cried another, turning to the Queen. “Reason with your son! He will bankrupt us with this reckless spending!”
All eyes turned to the Queen. “I imagine,” she said slowly, “that our King is thinking our kingdom will prosper if all the people are fed, and can read and write.”
“All hail King Leo!” the people were chanting in a chorus.
“All hail King Leo!”
On a corner of the raised platform, the magical mouse Ratón Pérez scurried toward the new king.
King Leo flashed him a gap-toothed grin. “Ratón Pérez! Y-y-you gave me the greatest t-t-treasure. Now I know I can’t stop from b-b-being king, but wh-what I do with it is up to me.”
For the first time in the kingdom’s history, all the people of the land—rich and poor, young and old—gathered together for a royal feast. They sat at enormous tables with King Leo, Ratón Pérez, and the entire royal court. The people were so happy for the meal and excited about their new king’s reign that no one noticed his stutter.
Just then King Leo wiggled another loose tooth. He grinned to himself—he had a feeling he’d see Ratón Pérez again, very soon.
Source:
Retold by World Stories Bank from an old Spanish folk tale.
Adapted by World Stories Bank ©2026, all rights reserved.
Footnote:
Ratón Pérez, or Ratóncito Perez, is a famous folklore character from Spanish and Hispanic American cultures. Although he had appeared in oral tradition for some time, his role as a “tooth fairy” figure originated in 1894 when writer Luis Coloma was commissioned to write a story for the eight-year-old King Alfonso XIII of Spain, who had just lost his first baby tooth. Ratón Pérez remains an enduring presence in Hispanic cultures and even has a museum dedicated to him in Madrid.
