Just then along came the little Prince, and they called to him, "Come and play with us, and share our feast!"
"With all my heart!" said the little Prince. "But are there not other children in the house yonder who would like to join us?"
"Nay, they are busy quarrelling!" said the wood children.
"Then we do not want them!" said the little Prince. He sat down with them under the oak tree, and they all ate and drank and were right merry.
But the children in the dim, rich house pulled the table this way and that, and moved the lights hither and yon, and looked at their delicate robes and sighed: "The little Prince is long in coming!" they said.
THE SPIRIT
