A love story of a prince 

A long long time ago there was a prince who enjoyed hunting. One day he went hunting. 

He accidentally knocked down a magical ape which cursed him before dying.

The prince was put under a spell and he could only speak one word each year. If he did not speak for two years, the following year he could speak two words and so on.

One day, while roaming around, he saw a beautiful lady and fell in love with her. The prince often would visit the lady in the village disguised as an ordinary man. 

He refrained from speaking for two whole years so that he could call her "my darling." 

For the next two years, the prince grew impatient to express his love for the lady.

So after two years, the prince wanted to tell her he loved her, so he waited three more years.

At the end of these five years, he thought he was getting old, so it was better to get married to the beautiful lady directly. So he waited another four years to express his love for her and ask her to marry him. 

Finally, as the nine-year-long silence ended, he sent a letter to the lady inviting her to the most romantic place in the kingdom. Then he said, "My darling, I love you! Will you marry me?" 

And the lady replied, "Pardon? Sorry I cannot hear anything. Can you show me in signs?"