The Prince was very much alarmed when he perceived that Selbst was growing so rapidly, and that all the sustenance which he himself took was turning to his companion’s nutriment. But the excitement and alarm passed off almost immediately; somehow or other he got reconciled to the state of things, and grew quite apathetical about it. If he felt any increase of weight on his shoulders, he speedily became indifferent to it, and he even ceased to wonder that his food seemed to do him no good.
Thus they went on roaming about, with no particular object in view; Selbst directing the Prince to go in this direction or that, as the fancy happened to take him, and the Prince obeying implicitly, in a sort of listless, unresisting manner.
“Go to yonder fountain,” said the sprite, after they had journeyed some hours longer. “Your body is so warm it quite heats and fatigues me. Why don’t you keep yourself cool?”
“How can I,” asked the Prince, “under such a broiling sun, and with you on my back? I wish you would get down for a little while.”
“No indeed,” answered the sprite, “I shall do nothing of the kind. I am quite comfortable, all except the heat, and I shall be cooler when you have stood a little while in the fountain.”
“Oh, Selbst, surely you forget how hot I am: to stand in a fountain would kill me.”
“And what does that matter to me, so long as I can keep myself comfortable? I am master now, and intend to remain so.”
“Master!” exclaimed Prince Eigenwillig, his natural disposition breaking out for a moment, “Tyrant, you mean.”
“Well, tyrant, if you like,” said the sprite. “Call me what you please, I care not; only do what I tell you. Go into the fountain.”
The Prince groaned, but obeyed mechanically, for resistance seemed to be useless; but when he approached the water’s edge, he saw a sight reflected on its glassy surface which made him start back. Selbst had become double the size which he was when the Prince had seen his shadow on the rock.