PRINCE PRIGIO. 85

 

. “Very well,” said the king; “‘ Prince Prigio,
you have your choice. There is the gallows,
here is Lady Molinda.. My duty is painful, but
clear. A king’s word cannot be broken. Molly,
or the gibbet!”

The prince bowed respectfully to Lady
Molinda:

“Madam, my cousin,” said he, . “your
clemency will excuse my answer, and you will
not misinterpret the apparent discourtesy of
-my conduct. Iam compelled, most unwillingly,
to slight your charms, and
-to select the Extreme Rigour
of the Law. Executioner,
lead on! Do your duty;
for me, Prigio est prét;”—
for this was his motto, and
meant that he was ready.

Poor Lady Molinda could
not but be hurt by the
prince’s preference for death
-over marriage to her, little
as she liked him.

“Ts life, then, so worthless?
and is Molinda so terrible a
Berson that you prefer those
arms,” and she pointed to
the gibbet,* ‘‘to these?’”?>—here she held out
her own, which were very white, round and
pretty: for Molinda was a good-hearted girl,
she could not -bear to see Prigio: put to

Ties