Stranica 211 [211]
KING BIZARRE AND PRINCE CHARMING
sword; but men do not go to balls armed as for war; for
his sole weapon he found a knot of ribbons. He ran after
his enemy, but which way had she fled? Charming lost
himself twenty times in the labyrinth; he met none but
peaceful dominos walking in couples and scarcely glancing
at him as he passed. Breathless, distracted, and desperate,
he returned to the ball-room, where he doubted not that
the stranger had taken refuge; but how was he to find her?
A brilliant idea crossed the prince’s mind; he would order
all to unmask, and would doubtless see the gipsy, con¬
founded by the king’s presence and betrayed by her own
agitation. He instantly leaped on a chair, and exclaimed
in a loud voice that caused every one to start:
“Ladies and gentlemen, day is approaching and pleasure
is languishing; let us revive mirth by a new caprice. Off
with the masks! I set the example; let all who love me
follow it.”
He threw off his domino, raised his mask, and appeared in
the richest and most elegant Spanish costume ever worn by
prince. There was a general outcry; all eyes were at first
turned toward the king, then toward the black domino
with pink rosettes, who retreated as fast as possible with a
modesty that was not affected. All unmasked. The
ladies gathered round the king, who, it was remarked, had
the most violent fancy for the gipsy costume. Young or
old, all the gipsies received his homage; he took them by
171