queen. "But why should our poor creatures be deprived of so much
nourishment? Our little dogs and cats and pigs and small bears would
enjoy him very much."
"You are the best of housekeepers, my lovely queen!" said her husband.
"Let it be so by all means. Let us have our people in, and get him out
and kill him at once. He deserves it. The mischief he might have
brought
upon us, now that he had penetrated so far as our most retired citadel,
is incalculable. Or rather let us tie him hand and foot, and have the
pleasure of seeing him torn to pieces by full torchlight in the great
hall."
"Better and better!" cried the queen and prince together, both of them
clapping their hands. And the prince made an ugly noise with his
hare-lip, just as if he had intended to be one at the feast.
"But," added the queen, bethinking herself, "he is so troublesome. For
as poor creatures as they are, there is something about those sunpeople
that is _very_ troublesome. I cannot imagine how it is that with such
superior strength and skill and understanding as ours, we permit them
to
Madhuri Noah
C:\Users\MNoah\Documents\The Princess and the Goblin1.docx
Page 182 of 634