“‘I do not,’ ses he. ‘And I am just as well pleased that I don’t.’
“‘And what did the king say when he heard your refusal?’ ses I.
“He took out his handkerchief and began to cry, and then ses he: ‘I will give you your choice of a wife, and I will give you your own way as long as you can stand it, if you will give me the linnet, and I will make you a Knight of the Spade and Turnip besides.’
“‘Thank you kindly,’ ses Lareen. ‘But, not for all the women that ever made fools of their husbands would I part with the linnet with the crown of gold.’
“So the king sailed away that night with sadness in his heart and tears in his eyes, and ’twas said that he was never heard whistling anything till the day he died but the song of the linnet with the crown of gold.
“And then the King of Prussia came and ses to Lareen: ‘There’s going to be a great war one day,’ ses he, ‘and if you will give me the linnet with the golden crown, I will give you half of France, the whole of Belgium, and maybe the Tower of London as well, when the war is over.’
“‘Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched,’ ses Lareen, ‘and remember the gentleman who went to live on St. Helena after the battle of Waterloo.’
“‘Oh, the spalpeen!’ ses he. ‘He was bound to be caught anyway, because he overestimated his own importance.’
“‘Just like a good many more people who don’t know it,’ ses Lareen.