attle prince. Their wonder was the greater, he-
cause he was never seen to taste any food; not
even so much as a cup of milk.

"Pray, nurse," the queen kept saying, "how
is it that you make the child thrive so?"

"I was a mother once," Ceres always replied;
"and having nursed my own child, I know what
other children need."

But Queen Metanira, as was very natural, had
a great curiosity to know precisely what the
nurse did to her child. One night, therefore, she
hid herself in the chamber where Ceres and the
little prince were accustomed to sleep. There
was a fire in the chimney, and it had now
crumbled into great coals and embers, which lay
glowing on the hearth, with a blaze flickering
up now and then, and flinging a warm and rud-
dy light upon the walls. Ceres sat before the
hearth with the child in her lap, and the fire-
light making her shadow dance upon the ceiling
overhead. She undressed the little prince, and
bathed him all over with some fragrant liquid
out of a vase. The next thing she did was to
rake back the red embers, and make a hollow
place among them, just where the backlog had

[[253]]

p252 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p253w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p254

v?