"A dozen!" he said.

"Well, then, tell me all that has happened to you since I saw you--or,
rather, since you saw me, which is quite a different thing."

"Nothing has happened--nothing ever does happen to me," answered the
Prince dolefully.

"And are you very dull, my boy?"

"So dull that I was just thinking whether I could not jump down to the
bottom of the tower, like my white kitten."

"Don't do that, not being a white kitten."

"I wish I were--I wish I were anything but what I am."

"And you can't make yourself any different, nor can I do it either. You
must be content to stay just what you are."

The little old woman said this--very firmly, but gently, too--with her
arms round his neck and her lips on his forehead. It was the first
time the boy had ever heard any one talk like this, and he looked up in
surprise--but not in pain, for her sweet manner softened the hardness of
her words.

"Now, my Prince,--for you are a prince, and must behave as such,--let us
see what we can do; how much I can do for you, or show you how to do for
yourself. Where is your traveling-cloak?"