“I don’t know where the Princess is,” said the Beetle; “but the Blue Bird is very wise, and he may know. Now your best plan will be to steal two of the Blue Bird’s eggs, and not give them back till he tells you all he can.”
So off they set for the Blue Bird’s nest; and, to make a long story short, the Prince stole two of the eggs, and would not give them back, till the Bird promised to tell him all it knew. And the end of it was, that the Bird carried him to the Court of the Queen of Mushroom Land. She was sitting, in her Crown, on a Mushroom, and she looked very funny and mischievous.
Here you see the Prince, with his hat off, kissing the Queen’s hair, and asking for the Princess.
“Oh, she’s quite safe,” said the Queen of Mushroom Land; “but what a funny boy you are. You are not half handsome enough for the Princess Niente.”
The poor Prince blushed. “They call me Prince Comical,” said he; “I know I’m not half good enough!”