Page:Comical and merry tricks of Tom Thumb, the wonderful (2).pdf/3



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It is said, that in the days of the cele- brated Prince Arthur, who was king of                    Britain in the year 516, there lived a                     great magician, called Merlin, the most learned and skilful enchanter in the world at that time. This famous magician, who could as- sume any form he pleased, was travelling in the disguise of a poor beggar, and be- ing very much fatigued, he stopped at                    the cottage of an honest ploughman to                     rest himself, and asked for some refresh- ment. The countryman gave him a hearty welcome, and his wife, who was a very good-hearted, hospitable woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden bowl, and some coarse brown bread on a plat- ter. Merlin was much pleased with this homely repast, and the kindesss of the ploughman and his wife; but he could not help observing, that though every thing was neat and comfortable in the cottage, they seemed both to be very dis- pirited and unhappy. He therefore questioned them on the cause of their melancholy, and learned that they were