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"Prince Alphonso has gone on his travels, and will come
back when he is tired! And was he then tired of me?"
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cried poor Molinda, bursting into tears, and forgetting her
dignity.
"Oh! I beg your pardon, I never noticed; I'm sure I'm very
sorry," cried the Prince, who, never having been in love
himself, never thought of other people. And he tried to take
Molinda's hand. but she snatched it from him and ran away
through me garden to the palace, leaving Prince Prigio to feel
foolish for once, and ashamed.
As for Lady Kathleena, she swept past him like a queen,
without a word- So the Prince, for all his cleverness, was not
happy.
48 Andrew Long
After several days had gone by the King returned from the
solitary place where he had been speaking his mind. He now
felt calmer and better, and so at last he came back to the
palace. But on seeing Prince Prigio, who was lolling in a
hammock, translating Egyptian hieroglyphs into French po-
etry for his mother, the King broke out afresh, and made use
of the most cruel and impolite expressions.
At last he gave orders that all the Court should pack up and
move to a distant city; and that Prince Prigio should be left
alone in the palace by himself. For he was quite unendurable,
the King said, and he could not trust his own temper when he
thought of him. And he grew so fierce that even the Queen
was afraid of him now.
The poor Queen cried a good deal; Prigio being her favour-
ite son, on account of his acknowledged ability and talent.
But the rest of the courtiers were delighted at leaving Prince
Prigio behind. For his part, he, very good-naturedly, showed
them the best and shortest road to Falkenstein, the city where
they were going; and easily proved that neither the Chief
Secretary for Geography nor the General of the Army knew
anything about the matter which, indeed, they did not.
The ungrateful courtiers left Prigio with hoots and yells,
for they disliked him so much that they forgot he would be
king one day. He therefore reminded them of this little fact in
future history, which made them feel uncomfortable enough,
and then lay down in his hammock and went asleep.
When he wakened the air was cold and the day was
beginning to grow dark. Prince Prigio thought he would go
down and dine at a tavern in the town, for no servants had
been left with him. But what was his annoyance when he
found that his boots, his sword, his cap, his cloak all his
clothes, in fact, except those he wore had been taken away
by the courtiers, merely to spite him! His wardrobe had been
ransacked, and everything that had not been carried off had
been cut up, burned, and destroyed. Never was there such a
spectacle of wicked mischief. It was as if hay had been made
of everything he possessed. What was worse, he had not a
penny in his pocket to buy new things; and his father had
stopped his allowance of £50,000 a month.
PRINCE PRIGIO 49
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Can you imagine anything more cruel and unjust than this
conduct? For it was not the Prince's fault that he was so
clever. The cruel fairy had made him so. But even if the
Prince had been bom clever (as may have happened to you),
was he to be blamed for that? The other people were just as
much at fault for being bom so stupid; but the world, my dear
children, can never be induced to remember this. If you are
clever, you will find it best not to let people know it if you
want them to like you.
Welt. here was the Prince in a pretty plight. Not a pound in
his pocket, not a pair of boots to wear, not even a cap to
cover his head from the rain; nothing but cold meat to eat,
and never a servant to answer the bell.
CHAPTER V
What Prince Prigio Found in the Garret
The Prince walked from room to room of the palace, but, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]