Page:Sologub Sweet Scented Name.djvu/23

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THE SWEET-SCENTED NAME

one thought her beautiful. But she grew older, and at last the time came for her to marry. Many young princes came to her father's court to woo her, but when she began to talk to them no one wanted to have her as a wife. At last a prince named Maximilian arrived, and when the princess saw him she said to him:

"With us human beings everything seems quite separate from other things—I can only hear words, I cannot smell them; and though I can see flowers and smell their scent, yet I cannot hear them. It makes life dull and uninteresting, don't you think?"

"What would make life more beautiful for you?" said Maximilian.

The princess was silent for some time, but at last she said, "I should so much like to have a sweet-smelling name."

"Yes, fair princess," said he, "the name Margaret is not nearly good enough for you. You ought to have a name of sweet fragrance, but there are no such names known upon the earth." Then the poor little princess wept sad tears, and Maximilian felt very sorry for her, and he loved her more than any one else in the whole world. He tried to comfort her by saying, "Do not weep, dear princess. I will try and find out if

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