ther nephews the king would possibly
have ordered something drastic in the way of scourging and banishment,
but in the case of the favoured Vespaluus he determined to look on the
whole thing much as a modern father might regard the announced
intention of his son to adopt the stage as a profession. He sent
accordingly for the Royal Librarian. The royal library in those days
was not a very extensive affair, and the keeper of the king's books had
a great deal of leisure on his hands. Consequently he was in frequent
demand for the settlement of other people's affairs when these strayed
beyond normal limits and got temporarily unmanageable.

"'You must reason with Prince Vespaluus,' said the king, 'and impress
on him the error of his ways. We cannot have the heir to the throne
setting such a dangerous example.'

"'But where shall I find the necessary arguments?' asked the Librarian.

"'I give you free leave to pick and choose your arguments in the royal
woods and coppices,' said the king; 'if you cannot get together some
cutting observations and stinging retorts suitable to the occasion you
are a person of very poor resource.'

"So the Librarian went into the woods and gathered a goodly selection
of highly argumentative rods and switches, and then proceeded to reason
with Vespaluus on the folly and iniquity and above all the unseemliness
of his conduct. His reasoning left a deep impression on the young
prince, an impression which lasted for many weeks, during which time
nothing more was heard about the unfortunate lapse into Christianity.
Then a further scandal of the same nature agitated the Court. At a
time when he should have been engaged in audibly invoking the gracious
protection and patronage of the holy serpents, Vespaluus was heard
singing a chant in honour of St. Odilo of Cluny. The king was furious
at this new outbreak, and began to take a gloomy view of the situation;
Vespaluus was evidently going to show a dangerous obstinacy in
persisting in his heresy. And yet there was nothing in his appearance
to justify such perverseness; he had not the pale eye of the fanatic or
the mystic look of the dreamer. On the contrary, he was quite the
best-looking boy at Court; he had an elegant, well-knit figure, a
healthy complexion, eyes the colour of very ripe mulberries, and dark
hair, smooth and very well cared for."

"It sounds like a description of what you imagine yourself to have been
like at the age of sixte