PRINCE SPRITE.
Once upon a time there was a king and a queen who had but one son, whom they were passionately fond of, though he was exceedingly deformed. He was as fat as the biggest man, at the same time that he was as short as the smallest dwarf; but the ugliness of his face and the deformity of his body were nothing in comparison with the malignity of his disposition. He was an obstinate brute, who caused the misery of every one about him. The king had observed this from the prince's earliest infancy; but the queen doted upon him, and made him much worse by her outrageous indulgence, which too plainly indicated the power he possessed over her. To find favour in the eyes of this princess, it was necessary to vow that her son was both handsome and witty. She was desirous to give him a name that would inspire respect and fear. After long consideration she called him Furibon.
When he was of an age to require a tutor, the king selected a prince who had a dormant claim to the crown, which he might have maintained like a brave man, had not his estates fallen into decay. As it was, he had long ceased to think of it, and applied himself solely to the education of an only son.
Never was there a youth blessed with a finer disposition. High-spirited, and yet most tractable, there was a peculiar felicity and grace in his every expression. In person he was perfect.
The king having chosen the father of this young nobleman to train up Furibon, expressly commanded the prince to be very obedient to him; but Furibon was so stubborn that an hundred floggings would not cure him of a single fault. His tutor's son was named Leander, and everybody loved him.
