One day he saw a young girl, so beautiful that, being always accustomed
to have his own way, he immediately determined to espouse her. He never
doubted that she would be only too glad to be made a queen, for she
was very poor. But Zelia--that was her name--answered, to his great
astonishment, that she would rather not marry him.

"Do I displease you?" asked the prince, into whose mind it had never
entered that he could displease anybody.

"Not at all, my prince," said the honest peasant maiden. "You are very
handsome, very charming; but you are not like your father the Good King.
I will not be your queen, for you would make me miserable."

At these words the prince's love seemed all to turn to hatred: he gave
orders to his guards to convey Zelia to a prison near the palace,
and then took counsel with his foster brother, the one of all his ill
companions who most incited him to do wrong.

"Sir," said this man, "if I were in your majesty's place, I would never
vex myself about a poor silly girl. Feed her on bread and water till
she comes to her senses; and if she still refuses you, let her die in
torment, as a warning to your other subjects should they venture to
dispute your will. You will be disgraced should you suffer yourself to
be conquered by a simple girl."

"But," said Prince Cherry, "shall I not be disgraced if I harm a
creature so perfectly innocent?"

"No one is innocent who disputes your majesty's authority," said the
courtier, bowing; "and it is better to commit an injustice than allow it