so far surpassed his own, that, in order not to venture his reputation, he had withheld his usual contribution to the cheer. This flattery was so acceptable to the Princess, that she repaid the major domo with the most tender intelligent glance, which cut to the heart the invisible watchful Sarron. “Very good,” said he to himself, “you shall none of you taste that.” When the chief carver raised the dish, and uncovered it, the concealed dainty had disappeared, to the astonishment of all the surrounding attendants, and the dish was empty and void. Great whispering and murmurs arose among the servants; the chief carver let his knife fall in his horror, and told it to the purveyor. He ran to the chief taster and told him the bad news; and the latter did not delay to whisper it in the ear of his chief; thereupon the major domo arose from his place with a grave official air, and whispered the sad news in the Princess’s ear, who became as pale as a corpse. The King, meanwhile, awaited with great anxiety the cup-bearer, who should present him with the eagerly expected dainty. He looked first to the right, then to the left, for the plate which was to come; when, however, he perceived the confusion of the attendants, and how they all ran about in disorder, he asked what was the matter, and the Princess took heart and disclosed to him with melancholy gestures, that an accident had happened, and her dish could not be produced! At this unpleasant news the hungry monarch, as is easy to imagine, grew very angry—pushed away his chair in displeasure, and betook himself to his apartment, in which hasty withdrawal every body took care to keep out of his way. The Princess also did not remain long in the dining-hall, but betook herself to her chamber, there to break the staff over the poor Amarin.
Suddenly, she caused the confounded major domo, who had not yet recovered from his astonishment at the vanished dainty and the extreme anger of the King, to be summoned before her; and when he lay, sadly and submissively, at the feet of the scornful lady, she addressed him, emphatically, in these words: “Unthankful traitor! dost thou so little value my favours, that thou canst venture to excite against me the anger of the monarch, and expose me to the laughter of the whole court retinue? Is thy ambition so unlimited, that, for the highest favours, thou deniest me the little honour of adorning the King’s table with a simple dish? Didst thou repent thy promise to allure thither, at my wish, the most excellent dish, that thou sufferedst it to disappear at the moment I expected to receive praises and applause? Disclose to me immediately the secret of thy art, or expect the recompense of magic at the stake, where to-morrow thou shalt roast at a slow fire!” This firm decision harrowed so much the timorous simpleton, that he saw no way of escaping but by an open revelation of the nature of his culinary art. Since now his prating tongue was in motion, and he besides wished to remove the
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