d this made Prince Darling so
cross that he gave her quite a hard kick.

Instantly his ring pricked him sharply, as if it had been a pin. He was
very much surprised, and sat down in a corner of his room feeling quite
ashamed of himself.

"I believe the Fairy is laughing at me," he thought. "Surely I can have
done no great wrong in just kicking a tiresome animal! What is the good
of my being ruler of a great kingdom if I am not even allowed to beat my
own dog?"

"I am not making fun of you," said a voice, answering Prince Darling's
thoughts. "You have committed three faults. First of all, you were out
of temper because you could not have what you wanted, and you thought
all men and animals were only made to do your pleasure; then you were
really angry, which is very naughty indeed; and lastly, you were
cruel to a poor little animal who did not in the least deserve to be
ill-treated.

"I know you are far above a little dog, but if it were right and
allowable that great people should ill-treat all who are beneath them, I
might at this moment beat you, or kill you, for a fairy is greater than
a man. The advantage of possessing a great empire is not to be able to
do the evil that one desires, but to do all the good that one possibly
can."

The Prince saw how naughty he had been, and promised to try and do
better in future, but he did not keep his word. The fact was he had been
brought up by a foolish nurse, who had spoiled him when he was little.
If he wanted anything he only had to cry and fret and stamp his feet
and she would give him whatever he asked for, which had made him
self-willed; also she had told him from morning to night that he would
one day be a king, and that kings were very happy, because everyone was
bound to obey and respect them, and no one could prevent them from doing
just as they liked.

When the Prince grew old enough to understand, he soon learned that
there could be nothing worse than to be proud, obstinate, and conceited,
and he had really tried to cure himself of these defects, but by that
time all his faults had become habits; and a bad habit is very hard to
get rid of. Not that he was naturally of a bad disposition; he was truly
sorry when he had been naughty, and said:

"I am very unhappy to have to struggle against my anger and pride every
day; if I had been punished for them when I was little they would not be
such a trouble to me now."

His ring pricked him very often, and sometim