Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/74

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Libussa.

The two competitors looked at each other in amazement; they grew pale with vexation, and remained dumb. After a long pause, Prince Wladomir broke the silence, and said, “The riddles of the wise are, to the foolish, like a nut to the toothless mouth; like a pearl found by a hen in the sand; like a lighted candle in the hand of a blind man. O princess, do not be angry, that we did not know how to use or esteem thy gift; we mistook thy intention, and believed thou hadst thrown an apple of discord between us, to excite us to duel and strife, and we renounced the mischievous fruit, whose sole possession neither of us would have granted to the other.”

“You have pronounced your own sentence,” replied Libussa. If an apple could thus inflame your jealousy, what contention would there have been between you for a myrtle wreath encircling a crown!”

With that answer she dismissed the knights, who were deeply annoyed at having followed the advice of the unwise arbitrator, and carelessly given away the pledge of love. Each of them now ruminated by himself how, in spite of all, he could execute his plan, and seize upon the Bohemian throne and its lovely occupant.