PRINCE PRIGIO. 37

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 hasa 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 hadread about those things in
historical books: but now he believed in them.
4 *