"Say you so!" he called out. "Then we shall try if what you say is true;" and he turned away, shaking with anger.
"Alas!" said the princess, "now, indeed, have I ruined myself for good and all."
Beppo was walking along the street looking about him hither and thither, and thinking how fine it all was. He had no more thought that the king and the princess were talking about him than the man in the moon.
Suddenly some one clapped him upon the shoulder.
Beppo turned around.
There stood a great tall man dressed all in black.
"You must come with me," said he.
"What do you want with me?" said Beppo.
"That you shall see for yourself," said the man.
"Very well," said Beppo; "I"d as lief go along with you as anywhere else."
So he turned and followed the man whither he led.
They went along first one street and then another, and by-and-by they came to the river, and there was a long wall with a gate in it. The tall man in black knocked upon the gate, and some one opened it from within.
The man in black entered, and Beppo followed at his heels, wondering where he was going.
He was in a garden. There were fruit trees and flowering shrubs and long marble walks, and away in the distance a great grand palace of white marble that shone red as fire in the light of the setting sun, but there was not a soul to be seen anywhere.
The tall man in black led the way up the long marble walk, past the fountains and fruit trees and beds of roses, until he had come to the palace.
Beppo wondered whether he were dreaming.
The tall man in black led the way into the palace, but still there was not a soul to be seen.
Beppo gazed about him in wonder. There were floors of colored marble, and ceilings of blue and gold, and columns of carved marble, and hangings of silk and velvet and silver.
Suddenly the tall man opened a little door that led into a dark pa.s.sage, and Beppo followed him. They went along the pa.s.sage, and then the man opened another door.
Then Beppo found himself in a great vaulted room. There at one end of the room were three souls. A man sat on the throne, and he was the king, for he had a crown on his head and a long robe over his shoulders.
Beside him stood a priest, and in front of him stood a beautiful young woman as white as wax and as still as death.
Beppo wondered whether he were awake.
"Come hither," said the king, in a harsh voice, and Beppo came forward and kneeled before him. "Take this young woman by the hand," said the king.
Beppo did as he was bidden.
Her hand was as cold as ice.
Then, before Beppo knew what was happening, he found that he was being married.
It was the princess.
"Now," said the king to her when the priest had ended, and he frowned until his brows were as black as thunder--"now you are married; tell me, is your husband greater than I?"
But the princess said never a word, only the tears ran one after another down her white face. The king sat staring at her and frowning.
Suddenly some one tapped Beppo upon the shoulder. It was the tall man in black.
Beppo knew that he was to follow him again. This time the princess was to go along. The tall man in black led the way, and Beppo and the princess followed along the secret pa.s.sage and up and down the stairs until at last they came out into the garden again.
And now the evening was beginning to fall.
The man led the way down the garden to the river, and still Beppo and the princess followed him.
By-and-by they came to the river-side and to a flight of steps, and there was a little frail boat without sail or oars.
The tall man in black beckoned towards the boat, and Beppo knew that he and princess were to enter it.
As soon as Beppo had helped the princess into the boat the tall man thrust it out into the stream with his foot, and the boat drifted away from the sh.o.r.e and out into the river, and then around and around. Then it floated off down the stream.
It floated on and on, and the sun set and the moon rose.
Beppo looked at the princess, and he thought he had never seen any one so beautiful in all his life. It was all like a dream, and he hoped he might never waken. But the princess sat there weeping and weeping, and said nothing.
The night fell darker and darker, but still Beppo sat looking at the princess. Her face was as white as silver in the moonlight. The smell of the flower-gardens came across the river. The boat floated on and on until by-and-by it drifted to the sh.o.r.e again and among the river reeds, and there it stopped, and Beppo carried the princess ash.o.r.e.
"Listen," said the princess. "Do you know who I am?"
"No," said Beppo, "I do not."
"I am the princess," said she, "the king"s niece; and by rights I should be queen of this land."
Beppo could not believe his ears.
"It is true that I am married to you," said she, "but never shall you be my husband until you are king."
"King!" said Beppo; "how can I be king?"
"You shall be king," said the princess.
"But the king is everything," said Beppo, "and I am nothing at all."
"Great things come from small beginnings," said the princess; "a big tree from a little seed."
Some little distance away from the river was the twinkle of a light, and thither Beppo led the princess. When the two came to it, they found it was a little hut, for there were fish-nets hanging outside in the moonlight.
Beppo knocked.
An old woman opened the door. She stared and stared, as well she might, to see the fine lady in silks and satins with a gold ring upon her finger, and n.o.body with her but one who looked like a poor beggar-man.