BY this time the prince was very hungry. The town was just three miles
off; but he had such a royal appetite, that he did not like to waste it
on bad cookery, and the people of the royal town were bad cooks. “I
wish I were in ‘The Bear,’ at Gluck-stein,” said he to himself; for he
remembered that there was a very good cook there. But, then, the town
was twenty-one leagues away--sixty-three long miles!
No sooner had the prince said this, and taken just three steps, than he
found himself at the door of the “Bear Inn” at Gluckstein!
“This is the most extraordinary dream,” said he to himself; for he was
far too clever, of course, to believe in seven-league boots. Yet he had
a pair on at that very moment, and it was they which had carried him in
three strides from the palace to Gluckstein!
The truth is, that the prince, in looking about the palace for clothes,
had found his way into that very old lumber-room where the magical gifts
of the fairies had been thrown by his clever mother, who did not believe
in them. But this, of course, the prince did not know.
Now you should be told that seven-league boots only take those
prodigious steps when you say you _want_ to go a long distance.
Otherwise they would be very inconvenient--when you only want to cross
the room, for example. Perhaps this has not been explained to you by
your governess?
Well, the prince walked into “The Bear,” and it seemed odd to him that
nobody took any notice of him. And yet his face was as well known as
that of any man in Pantouflia; for everybody had seen it, at least in
pictures. He was so puzzled by not being attended to as usual, that _he
quite forgot to take off his cap_.
[Illustration: Page 31]
He sat down at a table, however, and shouted “_Kellner!_” at which all
the waiters jumped, and looked round in every direction, but nobody came
to him. At first he thought they were too busy, but presently another
explanation occurred to him.
“The king,” said he to himself, “has threatened to execute anybody who
speaks to me, or helps me in any way. Well, I don’t mean to starve in
the midst of plenty, anyhow; here goes!”
The prince rose, and went to the table in the midst of the room, where
a huge roast turkey had just been placed. He helped himself to half the
breast, some sausages, chestnut stuffing, bread sauce, potatoes, and a
bottle of red wine--Burgundy. He then went back to a table in a corner,
where he dined very well, nobody taking any notice of him. When he
had finished, he sat watching the other people dining, and smoking his
cigarette. As he was sitting thus, a very tall man, an officer in the
uniform of the Guards, came in, and, walking straight to the prince’s
table, said: “Kellner, clean this table, and bring in the bill of fare.”
With these words, the officer sat down suddenly in the prince’s lap,
as if he did not see him at all. He was a heavy man, and the prince,
enraged at the insult, pushed him away and jumped to his feet. As he
did so, _his cap dropped off_. The officer fell on his knees at once,
crying:
“Pardon, my prince, pardon! I never saw you!”
This was more than the prince could be expected to believe.
“Nonsense! Count Frederick von Matterhorn,” he said; “you must be
intoxicated. Sir! you have insulted your prince and your superior
officer. Consider yourself under arrest! You shall be sent to a prison
to-morrow.”
On this, the poor officer appealed piteously to everybody in the tavern.
They all declared that they had not seen the prince, nor ever had an
idea that he was doing them the honour of being in the neighbourhood of
their town.
More and more offended, and convinced that there was a conspiracy to
annoy and insult him, the prince shouted for the landlord, called for
his bill, threw down his three pieces of gold without asking for change,
and went into the street.
“It is a disgraceful conspiracy,” he said. “The king shall answer for
this! I shall write to the newspapers at once!”
He was not put in a better temper by the way in which people hustled him
in the street. They ran against him exactly as if they did not see
him, and then staggered back in the greatest surprise, looking in every
direction for the person they had jostled. In one of these encounters,
the prince pushed so hard against a poor old beggar woman that she fell
down. As he was usually most kind and polite, he pulled off his cap to
beg her pardon, when, behold, the beggar woman gave one dreadful scream,
and fainted! A crowd was collecting, and the prince, forgetting that he
had thrown down all his money in the tavern, pulled out his purse. Then
he remembered what he had done, and expected to find it empty; but, lo,
there were three pieces of gold in it! Overcome with surprise, he thrust
the money into the woman’s hand, and put on his cap again. In a
moment the crowd, which had been staring at him, rushed away in every
direction, with cries of terror, declaring that there was a magician in
the town, and a fellow who could appear and disappear at pleasure!
[Illustration: Page 35]
By this time, you or I, or anyone who was not so extremely clever as
Prince Prigio, would have understood what was the matter. He had put
on, without knowing it, not only the seven-league boots, but the cap of
darkness, and had taken Fortunatus’s purse, which could never be empty,
however often you took all the money out. All those and many other
delightful wares the fairies had given him at his christening, and
the prince had found them in the dark garret. But the prince was so
extremely wise, and learned, and scientific, that he did not believe in
fairies, nor in fairy gifts.
“It is indigestion,” he said to himself: “those sausages were not of
the best; and that Burgundy was extremely strong. Things are not as they
appear.”
Here, as he was arguing with himself, he was nearly run over by a
splendid carriage and six, the driver of which never took the slightest
notice of him. Annoyed at this, the prince leaped up behind, threw down
the two footmen, who made no resistance, and so was carried to the door
of a magnificent palace. He was determined to challenge the gentleman
who was in the carriage; but, noticing that he had a very beautiful
young lady with him, whom he had never seen before, he followed them
into the house, not wishing to alarm the girl, and meaning to speak to
the gentleman when he found him alone.
A great ball was going on; but, as usual, nobody took any notice of the
prince. He walked among the guests, being careful not to jostle them,
and listening to their conversation.
It was all about himself! Everyone had heard of his disgrace, and
almost everyone cried “Serve him right!” They said that the airs he gave
himself were quite unendurable--that nothing was more rude than to be
always in the right--that cleverness might be carried far too far--that
it was better even to be born stupid (“Like the rest of you,” thought
the prince); and, in fact, nobody had a good word for him.
Yes, one had! It was the pretty lady of the carriage. I never could
tell you how pretty she was. She was tall, with cheeks like white roses
blushing: she had dark hair, and very large dark-grey eyes, and her face
was the kindest in the world! The prince first thought how nice and good
she looked, even before he thought how pretty she looked. _She_ stood up
for Prince Prigio when her partner would speak ill of him. She had
never seen the prince, for she was but newly come to Pantouflia; but she
declared that it was his _misfortune_, not his fault, to be so clever.
“And, then, think how hard they made him work at school! Besides,” said
this kind young lady, “I hear he is extremely handsome, and very brave;
and he has a good heart, for he was kind, I have heard, to a poor boy,
and did all his examination papers for him, so that the boy passed first
in _everything_. And now he is Minister for Education, though he can’t
do a line of Greek prose!”
The prince blushed at this, for he knew his conduct had not been
honourable. But he at once fell over head and ears in love with the
young lady, a thing he had never done in his life before, because--he
said--“women were so stupid!” You see he was so clever!
Now, at this very moment--when the prince, all of a sudden, was as
deep in love as if he had been the stupidest officer in the room--an
extraordinary thing happened! Something seemed to give a whirr! in his
brain, and in one instant _he knew all about it!_ He believed in fairies
and fairy gifts, and understood that his cap was the cap of darkness,
and his shoes the seven-league boots, and his purse the purse of
Fortunatus! He had read about those things in historical books: but now
he believed in them.
[Illustration: Chapter Seven]