d the Princes, "'tis not yet night; the shame at seeing
ourselves so transformed obliged us to flee from the sight of men; but
now that, thank Heaven! we can appear in the world again, we will all
go and live with our wives under one roof, and spend our lives merrily.
Let us, therefore, set out instantly, and before the Sun to-morrow
morning unpacks the bales of his rays at the custom-house of the East,
our wives shall be with you."

So saying, in order that they might not have to go on foot--for there
was only an old broken-down mare which Tittone had brought--the
brothers caused a most beautiful coach to appear, drawn by six lions,
in which they all five seated themselves; and having travelled the
whole day, they came in the evening to a tavern, where, whilst the
supper was being prepared, they passed the time in reading all the
proofs of men's ignorance which were scribbled upon the walls. At
length, when all had eaten their fill and retired to rest, the three
youths, feigning to go to bed, went out and walked about the whole
night long, till in the morning, when the Stars, like bashful maidens,
retire from the gaze of the Sun, they found themselves in the same inn
with their wives, whereupon there was a great embracing, and a joy
beyond the beyonds. Then they all eight seated themselves in the same
coach, and after a long journey arrived at Green-Bank, where they were
received with incredible affection by the King and Queen, who had not
only regained the capital of four children, whom they had considered
lost, but likewise the interest of three sons-in-law and a
daughter-in-law, who were verily four columns of the Temple of Beauty.
And when the news of the adventures of their children was brought to
the Kings of Fair-Meadow and Bright-Valley, they both came to the
feasts which were made, adding the rich ingredient of joy to the
porridge of their satisfaction, and receiving a full recompense for all
their past misfortunes; for--

"One hour of joy dispels the cares
And sufferings of a thousand years."

XXII

THE DRAGON

He who seeks the injury of another finds his own hurt; and he who
spreads the snares of treachery and deceit often falls into them
himself; as you shall hear in the story of a queen, who with her own
hands constructed the trap in which she was caught by the foot.

There was one time a King of High-Shore, who practised such tyranny and
cruelty that, whilst he was once gone on a vis