"Of  course  I  am  sometimes  ill. The
King,  my  father,  is  all  crippled  with  the
gout ;  perchance  I  shall  have  it  too  some
day. It  is  only  you  who  have  a  father
to  make  you  well  again  before  you  real
ize  that  you  are  ill. Tell  me,  do  you
live  in  the  City?"

"Aye. In  its  midst."

But  the  Princess  drew  closer,  crying,
"Tell  me!  Tell  me  of  the  City,  where
there  is  so  much  to  learn,  and  do!
Where  the  toilers  go  singing  to  their
work  like  a  busy  swarm  of  happy  bees;
where  the  contented  smoke  of  chimneys
tells  of  countless  happy  homes. Ah,  I
should  like  to  live  in  the  very  heart  of
the  City!"

"No!  No,  you  would  not,  Princess!
There  it  is  all  noise,  strife,  sickness,
death ;  while  here  all  is  peace  and  happi
ness!"

"Peace  and  happiness  here —  Ah,  I
wonder  would  you  think  so  long?  Each
day  follows  day  in  monotonous  proces
sion,  and  laughter  is  but  a  sound  made

99


Woven  in  the  Tapestry

with  the  lips  and  throat. The  courtiers
make  the  same  speeches  year  after  year ;
even  Torqueo  but  makes  new  jokes  by
saying  the  old  ones  backwards!  Think
what  it  is  to  live  always  with  no  new
face  to  see — except  on  the  great  days
of  the  feasts;  and  then  there  are  such
crowds  that  no  face  stands  out  clearly
amidst  the  throngs  that  pass  before  the
throne's  dais,  where  I  stand  with  the
diadem  pressing  into  the  very  flesh  of
my  head,  and  my  shoulders  weighted  to
the  breaking  point  with  the  jewels  they
have  to  carry. 