Here, too, was the glove of that royal giantess, the Princess Agnes, who
had refused to marry Arthur because he was too little. It was as broad
as a palm-leaf fan, and much thicker. Close by the monster glove lay a
tiny white moccasin, which had once been worn by Ursula, the bear's
daughter, and which had been brought back from the far land of that sad
story by one of the sea-rovers of Kisington, who had first told the
tale.
Here also was one of the partly-grated nuts with which Meg had flavored
the first King's Pie; and a precious pearl from Gerda's Wonder-Garden,
the gift of the grateful Mermaid. There, worn to rags, by the passage of
many years, was the original lion-doll made by Claribel, from the model
of the Lion Passant. And this the Red King liked best of all. But there
were many interesting things in the Museum of King Victor which recalled
to Red Rex the stories that Harold had read to him.
One day King Victor and a merry party rode to the town of Derrydown in
the north. Here was the great lion-doll factory, started by Claribel and
the Lion Passant, which had made their fortune and that of Derrydown.
The party stopped at the old Red Lion Inn where the sign still swung
over the door as in the days when the Lion Passant had first been struck
by its resemblance to his family crest. And because it was his family
crest also, Red Rex made the landlord a handsome present. In these days
the Red King was generosity itself.
Hard by the Inn was the very same tiny hut in which Claribel had lived;
and over the fireplace still showed dimly the carved coat of arms and
the motto, _Noblesse oblige_.
When Red Rex saw this, he stood and stared at it a long time, saying
nothing. "I used to think that meant 'A King can do no wrong,'" said he
at last in a low voice to King Victor. "Now I believe it means, 'A King
must do no wrong.'"
"So I too believe," agreed King Victor. "But I would make the motto say
still more. Every one can be noble, and a noble must do no wrong."
"It shall be the motto of my people!" declared Red Rex. And so it
became.
But there were other tales of this neighborhood which Red Rex
remembered. "May we not go hunting in the Ancient Wood, of which I have
heard?" asked Red Rex while they tarried in Derrydown. "I understand
that it is not far, and that there is great game to be had in those
still coverts."
"Nay; in these days we do not hunt in my Kingdom," replied King Victor.
"Since hearing the tale of the Bear's Daughter it has been no pleasure
for any of us to kill or hurt any dumb creature."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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