Page:Fairytales00auln.djvu/389

Rh for them, that the guard had ordered to be there to take the king wherever he would like to go. During his imprisonment he and his queen had had time to moralize, and perceive that the greatest benefits of this world are as nothing when estimated at their true value; this, added to the misfortune that had just occurred to them of losing their little girl, made them resolve not to take refuge among the kings, their neighbours and their allies, where perhaps they would have been considered a burden; so, taking their own course, they established themselves in a fertile plain, the most agreeable of any spot they could have chosen. In this place the king, changing his sceptre for a sheephook, bought a large flock, and became a shepherd. He built a little country-house, sheltered on one side by mountains, and having on the other a stream well filled with fish. Here they enjoyed more peace than they had on their throne; no one envied them their poverty, they feared neither traitors nor flatterers; their days flew by without sorrow, and the king often said, "Ah! if men could cure themselves of ambition, how happy they would be! I have been a king, now I am become a shepherd,—I prefer my cottage to the palace in which I reigned."

It was with this great philosopher that the young Prince studied; he knew not his master's rank, neither did the master know the parentage of his pupil; but he saw in him such noble feelings, that he could not believe him to be an ordinary child. He remarked with pleasure, that he placed himself nearly always at the head of his companions, with an air of superiority that commanded their respect. He was continually forming little armies; he built forts, and attacked them. He went hunting, also, and braved the greatest perils, notwithstanding all the remonstrances the shepherd could make. All these things convinced him, that he was born to command. But, while he is being educated, and till he has attained the age of fifteen, let us return to the King his father's court.

Prince Bossu, finding his father becoming very old, had scarcely any respect for him—he was impatient at waiting so long for the succession. To console himself, he asked the King for an army that he might invade a neighbouring kingdom, the fickle population of which had made overtures to him. The King agreed to it, on condition that, before his departure,