He got up and stepped out of the stall, and just then he heard the sound of children’s voices. The barn door opened and a couple of little girls came in. As soon as they saw him their talking and laughing ceased, and they stopped and stood still, gazing at him with strong curiosity; they presently began to whisper together, then they approached nearer, and stopped again to gaze and whisper. By-and-by they gathered courage and began to discuss him aloud. One said—
The other added—
“And pretty hair.”
“But is ill clothed enow.”
“And how starved he looketh.”
They came still nearer, sidling shyly around and about him, examining him minutely from all points, as if he were some strange new kind of animal, but warily7 and watchfully8 the while, as if they half feared he might be a sort of animal that would bite, upon occasion. Finally they halted before him, holding each other’s hands for protection, and took a good satisfying stare with their innocent eyes; then one of them plucked up all her courage and inquired with honest directness—
“Who art thou, boy?”
“I am the King,” was the grave answer.
The children gave a little start, and their eyes spread themselves wide open and remained so during a speechless half minute. Then curiosity broke the silence—
“The King? What King?”
“The King of England.”
The children looked at each other—then at him—then at each other again—wonderingly, perplexedly; then one said—
“Didst hear him, Margery?—he said he is the King. Can that be true?”
“How can it be else but true, Prissy? Would he say a lie? For look you, Prissy, an’ it were not true, it would be a lie. It surely would be. Now think on’t. For all things that be not true, be lies—thou canst make nought9 else out of it.”
It was a good tight argument, without a leak in it anywhere; and it left Prissy’s half-doubts not a leg to stand on. She considered a moment, then put the King upon his honour with the simple remark—
“If thou art truly the King, then I believe thee.”
“I am truly the King.”
This settled the matter. His Majesty’s royalty10 was accepted without further question or discussion, and the two little girls began at once to inquire into how he came to be where he was, and how he came to be so unroyally clad, and whither he was bound, and all about his affairs. It was a mighty11 relief to him to pour out his troubles where they would not be scoffed12 at or doubted; so he told his tale with feeling, forgetting even his hunger for the time; and it was received with the deepest and tenderest sympathy by the gentle little maids. But when he got down to his latest experiences and they learned how long he had been without food, they cut him short and hurried him away to the farmhouse13 to find a breakfast for him.
The King was cheerful and happy now, and said to himself, “When I am come to mine own again, I will always honour little children, remembering how that these trusted me and believed in me in my time of trouble; whilst they that were older, and thought themselves wiser, mocked at me and held me for a liar14.”
The children’s mother received the King kindly15, and was full of pity; for his forlorn condition and apparently16 crazed intellect touched her womanly heart. She was a widow, and rather poor; consequently she had seen trouble enough to enable her to feel for the unfortunate. She imagined that the demented boy had wandered away from his friends or keepers; so she tried to find out whence he had come, in order that she might take measures to return him; but all her references to neighbouring towns and villages, and all her inquiries17 in the same line went for nothing—the boy’s face, and his answers, too, showed that the things she was talking of were not familiar to him. He spoke18 earnestly and simply about court matters, and broke down, more than once, when speaking of the late King ‘his father’; but whenever the conversation changed to baser topics, he lost interest and became silent.
The woman was mightily19 puzzled; but she did not give up. As she proceeded with her cooking, she set herself to contriving20 devices to surprise the boy into betraying his real secret. She talked about cattle—he showed no concern; then about sheep—the same result: so her guess that he had been a shepherd boy was an error; she talked about mills; and about weavers21, tinkers, smiths, trades and tradesmen of all sorts; and about Bedlam22, and jails, and charitable retreats: but no matter, she was baffled at all points. Not altogether, either; for she argued that she had narrowed the thing down to domestic service. Yes, she was sure she was on the right track, now; he must have been a house servant. So she led up to that. But the result was discouraging. The subject of sweeping23 appeared to weary him; fire-building failed to stir him; scrubbing and scouring24 awoke no enthusiasm. The goodwife touched, with a perishing hope, and rather as a matter of form, upon the subject of cooking. To her surprise, and her vast delight, the King’s face lighted at once! Ah, she had hunted him down at last, she thought; and she was right proud, too, of the devious25 shrewdness and tact26 which had accomplished27 it.
Her tired tongue got a chance to rest, now; for the King’s, inspired by gnawing28 hunger and the fragrant29 smells that came from the sputtering30 pots and pans, turned itself loose and delivered itself up to such an eloquent31 dissertation32 upon certain toothsome dishes, that within three minutes the woman said to herself, “Of a truth I was right—he hath holpen in a kitchen!” Then he broadened his bill of fare, and discussed it with such appreciation33 and animation34, that the goodwife said to herself, “Good lack! how can he know so many dishes, and so fine ones withal? For these belong only upon the tables of the rich and great. Ah, now I see! ragged35 outcast as he is, he must have served in the palace before his reason went astray; yes, he must have helped in the very kitchen of the King himself! I will test him.”
Full of eagerness to prove her sagacity, she told the King to mind the cooking a moment—hinting that he might manufacture and add a dish or two, if he chose; then she went out of the room and gave her children a sign to follow after. The King muttered—
“Another English king had a commission like to this, in a bygone time—it is nothing against my dignity to undertake an office which the great Alfred stooped to assume. But I will try to better serve my trust than he; for he let the cakes burn.”
The intent was good, but the performance was not answerable to it, for this King, like the other one, soon fell into deep thinkings concerning his vast affairs, and the same calamity36 resulted—the cookery got burned. The woman returned in time to save the breakfast from entire destruction; and she promptly37 brought the King out of his dreams with a brisk and cordial tongue-lashing. Then, seeing how troubled he was over his violated trust, she softened38 at once, and was all goodness and gentleness toward him.
The boy made a hearty39 and satisfying meal, and was greatly refreshed and gladdened by it. It was a meal which was distinguished40 by this curious feature, that rank was waived41 on both sides; yet neither recipient42 of the favour was aware that it had been extended. The goodwife had intended to feed this young tramp with broken victuals43 in a corner, like any other tramp or like a dog; but she was so remorseful44 for the scolding she had given him, that she did what she could to atone45 for it by allowing him to sit at the family table and eat with his betters, on ostensible46 terms of equality with them; and the King, on his side, was so remorseful for having broken his trust, after the family had been so kind to him, that he forced himself to atone for it by humbling47 himself to the family level, instead of requiring the woman and her children to stand and wait upon him, while he occupied their table in the solitary48 state due to his birth and dignity. It does us all good to unbend sometimes. This good woman was made happy all the day long by the applauses which she got out of herself for her magnanimous condescension49 to a tramp; and the King was just as self-complacent over his gracious humility50 toward a humble51 peasant woman.
When breakfast was over, the housewife told the King to wash up the dishes. This command was a staggerer, for a moment, and the King came near rebelling; but then he said to himself, “Alfred the Great watched the cakes; doubtless he would have washed the dishes too—therefore will I essay it.”
He made a sufficiently52 poor job of it; and to his surprise too, for the cleaning of wooden spoons and trenchers had seemed an easy thing to do. It was a tedious and troublesome piece of work, but he finished it at last. He was becoming impatient to get away on his journey now; however, he was not to lose this thrifty53 dame’s society so easily. She furnished him some little odds54 and ends of employment, which he got through with after a fair fashion and with some credit. Then she set him and the little girls to paring some winter apples; but he was so awkward at this service that she retired55 him from it and gave him a butcher knife to grind.
Afterwards she kept him carding wool until he began to think he had laid the good King Alfred about far enough in the shade for the present in the matter of showy menial heroisms that would read picturesquely56 in story-books and histories, and so he was half-minded to resign. And when, just after the noonday dinner, the goodwife gave him a basket of kittens to drown, he did resign. At least he was just going to resign—for he felt that he must draw the line somewhere, and it seemed to him that to draw it at kitten-drowning was about the right thing—when there was an interruption. The interruption was John Canty—with a peddler’s pack on his back—and Hugo.
The King discovered these rascals57 approaching the front gate before they had had a chance to see him; so he said nothing about drawing the line, but took up his basket of kittens and stepped quietly out the back way, without a word. He left the creatures in an out-house, and hurried on, into a narrow lane at the rear.
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1
cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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3
scampered
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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watchfully
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| 警惕地，留心地 | |
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9
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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12
scoffed
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| 嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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14
liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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15
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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16
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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17
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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18
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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19
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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20
contriving
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| （不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的现在分词 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到 | |
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21
weavers
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| 织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 ) | |
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22
bedlam
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| n.混乱，骚乱；疯人院 | |
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23
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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24
scouring
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| 擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤 | |
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25
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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26
tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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27
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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28
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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29
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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30
sputtering
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| n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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31
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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32
dissertation
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| n.（博士学位）论文，学术演讲，专题论文 | |
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33
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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34
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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35
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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36
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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37
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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38
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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39
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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40
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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41
waived
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| v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等） | |
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42
recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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43
victuals
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| n.食物；食品 | |
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44
remorseful
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| adj.悔恨的 | |
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45
atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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46
ostensible
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| adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的 | |
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47
humbling
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| adj.令人羞辱的v.使谦恭( humble的现在分词 )；轻松打败（尤指强大的对手）；低声下气 | |
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48
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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49
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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50
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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51
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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52
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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53
thrifty
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| adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的 | |
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54
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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55
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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56
picturesquely
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57
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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