"
"I desire none of these things," replied the King, "but I shall be
very much obliged if you will make him the best of all princes, for
what good would it do to him to be handsome, rich, or powerful if he
were wicked? You know he would be unhappy, for it is only goodness
which brings content."
"You are right," answered the Fairy, "but that I cannot do; Prince
Cheri must himself strive to become good. All that I can promise is
that I will give him good advice, and punish him for his faults, if he
will not himself correct them."
And with this the father had to rest content.
Not long afterwards the good King died, and two days later the Fairy
appeared to Prince Cheri.
"I promised your father to be your friend," she told him; "here is a
little gold ring, take care of it, for it is worth more than diamonds.
Every time that you are about to do any wrong action it will prick
you. If, in spite of the pricks, you continue your bad actions, you
will lose my friendship and I shall become your enemy."
Saying this the Fairy vanished, leaving the Prince very much
astonished.
For some time Cheri behaved so well that the ring did not prick
at all, but one day when he returned from the chase, having caught
nothing, he felt so ill-humoured, that when his dog Bibi came fawning
upon him, he kicked the poor, faithful creature from him.
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105