“Will you be my guide?” asked the Prince.
“Yes,” said the Beetle; “but what about your friends, the other Princes?”
“Oh, they must come too; it would not be fair to leave them behind,” said the Prince Comical.
He was the soul of honour; and though the others laughed at him, he would not take advantage of his luck, and run away from them.
“Well, you are a true Knight,” said the Black Beetle; “but before we go into the depths of Mushroom Land, just you come here with me.”
Then the Black Beetle pointed out to the Prince a great smooth round red thing, a long way off.
“That is the first Mushroom in Mushroom Land,” said the Beetle. “Now come with me, and you shall see, what you shall see.”