{Chapter heading picture: p9.jpg}
_Prince Prigio and his Family_.
Well, the little prince grew up. I think I've told you that his name was
Prigio--did I not? Well, that _was_ his name. You cannot think how
clever he was. He argued with his nurse as soon as he could speak, which
was very soon. He argued that he did not like to be washed, because the
soap got into his eyes. However, when he was told all about the _pores
of the skin_, and how they could not be healthy if he was not washed, he
at once ceased to resist, for he was very reasonable. He argued with his
father that he did not see why there should be kings who were rich, while
beggars were poor; and why the king--who was a little greedy--should have
poached eggs and plum-cake at afternoon tea, while many other persons
went without dinner. The king was so surprised and hurt at these remarks
that he boxed the prince's ears, saying, "I'll teach you to be too
clever, my lad." Then he remembered the awful curse of the oldest fairy,
and was sorry for the rudeness of the queen. And when the prince, after
having his ears boxed, said that "force was no argument," the king went
away in a rage.
{Prigio reading a book: p11.jpg}
Indeed, I cannot tell you how the prince was hated by all! He would go
down into the kitchen, and show the cook how to make soup. He would
visit the poor people's cottage, and teach them how to make the beds, and
how to make plum-pudding out of turnip-tops, and venison cutlets out of
rusty bacon. He showed the fencing-master how to fence, and the
professional cricketer how to bowl, and instructed the rat-catcher in
breeding terriers. He set sums to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and
assured the Astronomer Royal that the sun does not go round the
earth--which, for my part, I believe it does. The young ladies of the
Court disliked dancing with him, in spite of his good looks, because he
was always asking, "Have you read this?" and "Have you read that?"--and
when they said they hadn't, he sneered; and when they said they _had_, he
found them out.
He found out all his tutors and masters in the same horrid way;
correcting the accent of his French teacher, and trying to get his German
tutor not to eat peas with his knife. He also endeavoured to teach the
queen-dowager, his grandmother, an art with which she had long been
perfectly familiar! In fact, he knew everything better than anybody
else; and the worst of it was that he _did_: and he was never in the
wrong, and he always said, "Didn't I tell you so?" And, what was more,
he _had_!
As time went on, Prince Prigio had two younger brothers, whom everybody
liked. They were not a bit clever, but jolly. Prince Alphonso, the
third son, was round, fat, good-humoured, and as brave as a lion. Prince
Enrico, the second, was tall, thin, and a little sad, but _never_ too
clever. Both were in love with two of their own cousins (with the
approval of their dear parents); and all the world said, "What nice,
unaffected princes they are!" But Prigio nearly got the country into
several wars by being too clever for the foreign ambassadors. Now, as
Pantouflia was a rich, lazy country, which hated fighting, this was very
unpleasant, and did not make people love Prince Prigio any better.