Page:Sologub Sweet Scented Name.djvu/22

 something she had once known, but she could not think what it might be, and she became unhappy because she could not remember.

One day she asked her father:

"How is it we cannot hear the sunshine?"

The king smiled at the question, but he could not answer it, and the little princess looked very grieved.

Another day she said to her mother:

"The roses smell very sweet; how is it I cannot see their scent?" And when her mother laughed at the strange question the princess felt sadder than ever.

Some time afterwards she came to her nurse and said:

"How is it that names are not sweet-scented?"

The old nurse laughed at her, and again the princess was grieved that no one could answer any of her questions. Then a rumour went about the land that the king's daughter was different from other people, and that her mind was weak. And everybody tried to think of some means to cure her and make her well.

She was a quiet and melancholy child, and was always asking strange and unusual questions. She was thin and pale, and no