Page:The Pentamerone, or The Story of Stories.djvu/74

50 THE FLEA.

taken without thought bring disasters without remedy. He who behaves like a fool, repents like a wise man; as happened to the King of High-Hill, who, through unexampled folly, committed an act of madness, putting in jeopardy both his daughter and his honour.

upon a time the King of High-Hill, being bitten by a flea, caught him by a wonderful feat of dexterity; and seeing how handsome and stately he was, he could not in conscience pass sentence on him upon the bed of his nail. So he put him into a bottle, and feeding him every day with the blood of his own arm, the little beast grew at such a rate, that at the end of seven months it was necessary to shift his quarters, for he was grown bigger than a sheep. When the king saw this, he had him flayed, and the skin dressed. Then he