Page:The Pentamerone, or The Story of Stories.djvu/62

38 Then Vastolla quickly removed the stoppage of his speech; and scarcely had he spoken the word, when he was changed from an owl into a nightingale, from an ogre into a Narcissus, from a scarecrow into a dapper little doll. Vastolla, seeing such a transformation, clasped him in her arms, and was almost beside herself with joy.

Meantime the king, who from the day that this calamity befell him had been full up to the very throat with 'Let-me-alone,' was one day for amusement brought out to hunt by his courtiers. Night overtook them, and seeing a light in the window of that palace, he sent a servant to inquire if they would entertain him; and he was answered, that he might not merely break a glass but even smash a jug there. So the king went to the palace; and going up the staircase, and passing through the chambers, he saw no living being save the two little boys, who skipped about him, crying, "Grandpapa! grandpapa!" The king, surprised and astonished, stood like one that was enchanted; and sitting down to rest himself at a table, to his amazement he saw invisibly spread on it a Flanders tablecloth, with dishes full of roast meats, and viands of various kinds; so that he feasted in truth like a king, waited on by those beautiful children: and all the while he sat at table, a concert of lutes and tambourines never ceased,—such delicious music that it went to the very tips of his fingers