Frisk did as he was told, and as he knew of no better kitchen than the
King’s, he went in softly, and when the cook’s back was turned took
everything that was upon the spit, As it happened it was all done to a
turn, and looked so good that it made him hungry only to see it. He
carried his basket to the Princess, who at once sent him back to the
pantry to bring all the tarts and sugar plums that had been prepared
for the King’s supper.
The King, as he had had no dinner, was very hungry and wanted his
supper early, but when he asked for it, lo and behold it was all gone,
and he had to go to bed half-starved and in a terrible temper. The next
day the same thing happened, and the next, so that for three days the
King got nothing at all to eat, because just when the dinner or the
supper was ready to be served it mysteriously disappeared. At last the
Prime Minister began to be afraid that the King would be starved to
death, so he resolved to hide himself in some dark corner of the
kitchen, and never take his eyes off the cooking-pot. His surprise was
great when he presently saw a little green dog with one ear slip softly
into the kitchen, uncover the pot, transfer all its contents to his
basket, and run off. The Prime Minister followed hastily, and tracked
him all through the town to the cottage of the good old man; then he
ran back to the King and told him that he had found out where all his
dinners and suppers went. The King, who was very much astonished, said
he should like to go and see for himself. So he set out, accompanied by
the Prime Minister and a guard of archers, and arrived just in time to
find the old man and the Princess finishing his dinner.
The King ordered that they should be seized and bound with ropes, and
Frisk also.
When they were brought back to the palace some one told the King, who
said:
‘To-day is the last day of the respite granted to those impostors; they
shall have their heads cut off at the same time as these stealers of my
dinner.’ Then the old man went down on his knees before the King and
begged for time to tell him everything. While he spoke the King for the
first time looked attentively at the Princess, because he was sorry to
see how she cried, and when he heard the old man saying that her name
was Rosette, and that she had been treacherously thrown into the sea,
he turned head over heels three times without stopping, in spite of
being quite weak from hunger, and ran to embrace her, and untied the
ropes which bound her with his own hands, declaring that he loved her
with all his heart.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account