A strict system of economy formed a part of Maximilian's curriculum. The royal princes were only allowed the plainest food. Sweetmeats the Crown Prince tasted only through the generosity of his nurse Liesi, who was in the habit of buying sweets for her favourite out of her own pocket--a kindness which Ludwig always remembered, and which he rewarded as soon as he became King. When the princes grew bigger they were allowed pocket-money, to the amount of about a shilling a week--hardly a princely appanage. Otto one day hit upon a means, as he hoped, of improving his financial position. Having heard that sound teeth fetched as much as ten guldens apiece, he betook himself to one of the Munich dentists, and offered him one of his best molars at that price. The dentist knowing who he was, did not, of course, accept the offer. When the occurrence became known to the King, the prince was severely punished. The episode, however, seems to have brought the Queen to reflection, and she caused the princes' pocket-money to be augmented from that day. On his eighteenth birthday Ludwig for the first time received a sum of any consideration, his father presenting him with a purse containing a specimen of every coin at that time current in Bavaria. The youth, who had never before had anything in his pocket but a few coppers, imagined that he had suddenly become a wealthy man, and hastened off to buy and present to his mother a locket, which she had admired in a jeweller's shop. He made no inquiries as to the price, but when the jeweller observed that he would send the ornament and the bill to the Palace, said with importance, handing him his purse: "No, I have money of my own now. Here, pay yourself for the ornament!" Between the Crown Prince and his father there was never any great feeling of tenderness, but he was without doubt very much attached to his mother. The circumstances attending the birth of Prince Otto had, however, given her a preference for her younger son; and when Ludwig in his childish years endeavoured to talk to her of his ideas and impressions, the very prosaic Queen showed a remarkable want of comprehension of his poet's nature. Apart from occasional friction, the relations between the brothers were peaceful and good. The younger one always took the second place, and the modesty with which he did this was no doubt the chief reason why the two were good friends. The entire character and turn of mind of the Crown Prince, his ideas, pleasures, and sympathies, were absolutely different from those of Otto, and of any real confidence on his side there could consequently be no possibility. Ludwig preferred solitude. Otto was gay and sociable. Ludwig was interested in art, and occupied himself with flowers; his brother loved military matters, and was a keen sportsman. Two interests, however, they had in common: both were from childhood first-rate, almost foolhardy, riders, and both loved music and singing.