Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a nameless monster.
The monster was dying to have a name.
So the monster set out on a journey to look for one.
But the world was such a very large place.
The monster split in two and went on two separate journeys.
One went west.
The other headed east.
The one who went east came upon a village.
"Mr. Blacksmith, please give me your name."
"I can't give you my name."
"If you give me your name, I'll go inside and make you strong."
"Really? If you make me stronger, I'll give you my name."
The monster went inside the blacksmith.
And so the monster became Otto the blacksmith.
Otto was the strongest man in town. But then, one day...
"Look at me, look at me, the monster inside me is getting bigger."
Munch-munch, chomp-chomp, gobble-gobble, gulp.
The hungry monster ate up Otto from the inside out.
Once again, he was a monster without a name.
Next he went in to Hans the shoemaker. However...
Munch-munch, chomp-chomp, gobble-gobble, gulp.
Once again, he went back to being a monster without a name.
Then he became Thomas the hunter. But soon...
Munch-munch, chomp-chomp, gobble-gobble, gulp.
Back he went to being a monster without a name.
The monster next went to a castle to look for a nice name.
"If you will give me your name, I'll make you strong."
"If you can me healthy and strong, I will give you my name."
The monster jumped right into the boy.
And the boy became full of vigor.
The king was overjoyed.
"The prince is healthy. The prince is strong."
The monster became quite fond of the boy's name.
He was also quite pleased with his royal life in the castle, so he controlled himself no matter how ravenous his appetite became.
Day after day, despite his growing hunger, the monster stayed put inside the boy.
But finally, the hunger became just too great.
"Look at me, look at me, the monster inside me had gotten this big."
The boy devoured and all his servants.
Munch-munch, chomp-chomp, gobble-gobble, gulp.
And then one day, the boy came upon the monster who had gone west.
"I have a name. And it's such a wonderful one at that."
But the monster who went west replied,
"Who needs a name? I'm perfectly happy without one.
After all, that's what we are- nameless monsters."
The boy ate up the monster who went west.
At last he had found a name, but there was no longer anyone around to call him by it.
Such a shame, because Johan was such a wonderful name.
