16 -PRINCE PRIGIO.

 

ible and cruel beast cannot be imagined; for,
if you go near it, you are at once broiled. by
the Firedrake.

But the king was not ill- pleased: « for,”
thought he, ‘‘of course my three-sons must
go after the brute, the eldest first; and, as
usual, it will kill the first two, and be beaten
by the youngest. It is a little hard on Enrico,
poor boy; but anything to get rid of that
Prigio!”

Then the king went to Prigio, and said that
his country was in danger, and that he was
‘determined to leave the crown to whichever of
them would bring him the horns (for it has
horns) and tail of the Firedrake.

“It is an awkward brute to tackle,” the king
said, “‘but you are the oldest, my lad; go where
glory waits you! Put on your armour, and be
‘off with you!”

This the king said, hoping that either the
Firedrake would roast Prince, Prigio alive
(which he could easily do, as I have said; for
he is all over as hot as a red-hot poker), or that,
if the prince succeeded, at least his county,
would be freed from the monster.

But the prince, who was lying on the sofa
doing sums in compound division, for fun, said
in the politest way:

“Thanks to the education your majesty has
given me,'I have learned that the: Firedrake,
like the siren, the fairy, and so forth, is a fabu-