"The potatoes have still to be dug," answered the tall man.
"I want you to come and dance instead," said the Princess, imperiously.
"Then who will dig your potatoes?" he asked.
"Some one else will dig them," said the Princess, who always found that when she wanted anything done it came to pass without any trouble.
"There is no one else," said the tall man. "Go away and dance."
"There is some one else!" cried the Princess. "I will dig the potatoes, and you shall go and dance!"
"You are being an absurd child," laughed the tall man. "Why, you are on the wrong side of the hedge, to begin with."
"But you could help me to get over the hedge," said the Princess, eagerly. "I want to do something new. I am so tired of being a Princess. You really don't know how dull it is to be a Princess always."
"No," said the tall man, "I only know how dull it is to dig potatoes always, for some one else to eat. Go away and dance, you foolish child. Do you suppose you could dig potatoes in a dress like that?"
And the Princess looked down at her fine silken robes, and she went away up the garden path, more sadly than before.