hungry. And to add to everything, the sunshiny day changed into rain,
and being high up, in the very midst of the clouds, he got soaked
through and through in a very few minutes.

"Shall I turn back?" meditated he. "Suppose I say 'Abracadabra?'"

Here he stopped, for already the cloak gave an obedient lurch, as if it
were expecting to be sent home immediately.

"No--I can't--I can't go back! I must go forward and see the world. But
oh! if I had but the shabbiest old rug to shelter me from the rain, or
the driest morsel of bread and cheese, just to keep me from starving!
Still, I don't much mind; I'm a prince, and ought to be able to stand
anything. Hold on, cloak, we'll make the best of it."

It was a most curious circumstance, but no sooner had he said this than
he felt stealing over his knees something warm and soft; in fact, a most
beautiful bearskin, which folded itself round him quite naturally, and
cuddled him up as closely as if he had been the cub of the kind old
mother-bear that once owned it. Then feeling in his pocket, which
suddenly stuck out in a marvelous way, he found, not exactly bread and
cheese, nor even sandwiches, but a packet of the most delicious food
he had ever tasted. It was not meat, nor pudding, but a combination of
both, and it served him excellently for both. He ate his dinner with the
greatest gusto imaginable, till he grew so thirsty he did not know what
to do.

"Couldn't I have just one drop of water, if it didn't trouble you too
much, kindest of godmothers?"