PRINCE PRIGIO did not go to bed. It was bright daylight, and he had
promised to bring the horns and tail of a Firedrake as a present to a
pretty lady. He had said it was easy to do this; but now, as he sat and
thought over it, he did not feel so victorious.
“First,” he said, “where is the Firedrake?”
He reflected for a little, and then ran upstairs to the garret.
“It _should_ be here!” he cried, tossing the fairies’ gifts about; “and,
by George, here it is!”
Indeed, he had found the spyglass of carved ivory which Prince Ali, in
the _Arabian Nights_, bought in the bazaar in Schiraz. Now, this glass
was made so that, by looking through it, you could see anybody or
anything you wished, however far away. Prigio’s first idea was to look
at his lady. “But she does not expect to be looked at,” he thought; “and
I _won’t!_” On the other hand, he determined to look at the Firedrake;
for, of course, he had no delicacy about spying on _him_, the brute.
The prince clapped the glass to his eye, stared out of window, and
there, sure enough, he saw the Firedrake. He was floating about in a
sea of molten lava, on the top of a volcano. There he was, swimming and
diving for pleasure, tossing up the flaming waves, and blowing fountains
of fire out of his nostrils, like a whale spouting!
[Illustration: Page 44]
The prince did not like the looks of him.
“With all my cap of darkness, and my shoes of swiftness, and my sword of
sharpness, I never could get near that beast,” he said; “and if I _did_
stalk him, I could not hurt him. Poor little Alphonso! poor Enrico! what
plucky fellows they were! I fancied that there was no such thing as a
Firedrake: he’s not in the Natural History books; and I thought the boys
were only making fun, and would be back soon, safe and sound. How horrid
being too clever makes one! And now, what _am_ I to do?”
What was he to do, indeed? And what would you have done? Bring the horns
and tail he must, or perish in the adventure. Otherwise, how could he
meet his lady?--why, she would think him a mere braggart.
The prince sat down, and thought and thought; and the day went on, and
it was now high noon.
At last he jumped up and rushed into the library, a room where nobody
ever went except himself and the queen. There he turned the books upside
down, in his haste, till he found an old one, by a French gentleman,
Monsieur Cyrano de Bergerac. It was an account of a voyage to the
moon, in which there is a great deal of information about matters not
generally known; for few travellers have been to the moon. In that book,
Prince Prigio fancied he would find something he half remembered, and
that would be of use to him. And he _did!_ So you see that cleverness,
and minding your book, have some advantages, after all. For here the
prince learned that there is a very rare beast called a Remora, which is
at least as cold as the Firedrake is hot!
“Now,” thought he, “_if I can only make these two fight_, why the Remora
may kill the Firedrake, or take the heat out of him, at least, so that I
may have a chance.”
Then he seized the ivory glass, clapped it to his eye, and looked for
the Remora. Just the tip of his nose, as white as snow and as smooth as
ice, was sticking out of a chink in a frozen mountain, not far from the
burning mountain of the Firedrake.
[Illustration: Page 46]
“Hooray!” said the prince softly to himself; and he jumped like mad into
the winged shoes of swiftness, stuck on the cap of darkness, girdled
himself with the sword of sharpness, and put a good slice of bread, with
some cold tongue, in a wallet, which he slung on his back. Never you
fight, if you can help it, except with plenty of food to keep you going
and in good heart. Then off he flew, and soon he reached the volcano of
the Firedrake.
[Illustration: Chapter Nine]