Page:The Pentamerone, or The Story of Stories.djvu/223

Rh kissed you, and Filadoro went out of your mind. But now I lay another curse upon you, that in remembrance of the injury you did me, you may always have before you those beans of mine which you threw on the ground, so that the proverb may come true, 'He who sows beans gets a crop of horns. So saying she vanished like quicksilver, and not a trace of smoke was to be seen.

The fairy, seeing the prince grow pale at these words, bade him take courage, saying, "Fear not, my husband, I will save you from the fire." Then she pronounced the words,—"Scatola and matola! thus the charm of all power I disarm:" and instantly the spell was at an end.

So the feast being now ended, they all betook themselves to rest; and the prince and Filadoro lived happy ever after, proving the truth of the proverb, that

"Of a truth," said the Prince, "every man ought to act according to his station,—the nobleman as a nobleman, the lacquey as a lacquey, and the constable as a constable; for as the beggar-boy, wishing to act the prince, becomes ridiculous, so the prince acting like a beggar-boy loses his reputation."