princess again.

A milk-white horse was waiting for him at the Goldsmith's door, a
servant holding the bridle, and Beppo mounted and rode away.

When he returned to the fisherman's hut the princess was waiting for
him. She had prepared a tray spread with a napkin, a cup of milk, and
some sweet cakes.

"Listen," said she; "to-day the king hunts in the forest over yonder. Go
you thither with this. The king will be hot and thirsty, and weary with
the chase. Offer him this refreshment. He will eat and drink, and in
gratitude he will offer you something in return. Take nothing of him,
but ask him this: that he allow you once every three days to come to the
palace, and that he whisper these words in your ear so that no one else
may hear them--'A word, a word, only a few words; spoken ill, they are
ill; spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels.'"

"Why should I do that?" said Beppo.

"You will see," said the princess.

Beppo did not understand it at all, but the princess is a princess and
must be obeyed, and so he rode away on his horse at her bidding.

It was as the princess had said: the king was hunting in the forest,
and when Beppo came there he could hear the shouts of the men and the
winding of horns and the baying of dogs. He waited there for maybe an
hour or more, and sometimes the sounds were nearer and sometimes the
sounds were farther away. Presently they came nearer and nearer, and
then all of a sudden the king came riding out of the forest, the hounds
hunting hither and thither, and the lords and nobles and courtiers
following him.

The king's face was flushed and heated with the chase, and his forehead
was bedewed with sweat. Beppo came forward and offered the tray. The
king wiped his face with the napkin, and then drank the milk and ate
three of the cakes.

"Who was it ordered you to bring this to me?" said he to Beppo.

"No one," said Beppo; "I brought it myself."

The king looked at Beppo and was grateful to him.

"Thou hast given me pleasure and comfort," said he; "ask what thou wilt
in return and if it is in reason thou shalt have it."

"I will have only this," said Beppo: "that your majesty will allow me
once every three days to come to the palace, and that then you will take
me aside and will whisper these words into my ear so that no one else
may hear them--A word, a word, only a few words; spoken ill, they are
ill; spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels.'"