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Page 10
"Well, well, well," said the goat, surlily, "keep
quiet and I'll carry you. But you make me very tired,
Rinkitink, with your ceaseless chatter."
After making this protest Bilbil began walking
up the hill, carrying the fat King upon his back
with no difficulty whatever.
Prince Inga and his father and all the men of
Pingaree were much astonished to overhear this dispute
between King Rinkitink and his goat; but they were too
polite to make critical remarks in the presence of
their guests. King Kitticut walked beside the goat and
the Prince followed after, the men coming last with the
boxes of sandalwood.
When they neared the palace, the Queen and her
maidens came out to meet them and the royal guest was
escorted in state to the splendid throne room of the
palace. Here the boxes were opened and King Rinkitink
displayed all the beautiful silks and laces and jewelry
with which they were filled. Every one of the courtiers
and ladies received a handsome present, and the King
and Queen had many rich gifts and Inga not a few. Thus
the time passed pleasantly until the Chamberlain
announced that dinner was served.
Bilbil the goat declared that he preferred eating of
the sweet, rich grass that grew abundantly in the
palace grounds, and Rinkitink said that the beast could
never bear being shut up in a stable; so they removed
the saddle from his back and allowed him to wander
wherever he pleased.
During the dinner Inga divided his attention between
admiring the pretty gifts he had received and listening
to the jolly sayings of the fat King, who laughed when
he was not eating and ate when he was not laughing and
seemed to enjoy himself immensely.
"For four days I have lived in that narrow boat,"
said he, "with no other amusement than to watch the
rowers and quarrel with Bilbil; so I am very glad to be
on land again with such friendly and agreeable people."
"You do us great honor," said King Kitticut, with a
polite bow.
"Not at all -- not at all, my brother. This Pingaree
must be a wonderful island, for its pearls are the
admiration of all the world; nor will I deny the fact
that my kingdom would be a poor one without the riches
and glory it derives from the trade in your pearls. So
I have wished for many years to come here to see you,
but my people said: 'No! Stay at home and behave
yourself, or we'll know the reason why.'"
"Will they not miss Your Majesty from your
palace at Gilgad?" inquired Kitticut.
"I think not," answered Rinkitink. "You see, one of
my clever subjects has written a parchment entitled
'How to be Good,' and I believed it would benefit me to
study it, as I consider the accomplishment of being
good one of the fine arts. I had just scolded severely
my Lord High Chancellor for coming to breakfast without
combing his eyebrows, and was so sad and regretful at
having hurt the poor man's feelings that I decided to
shut myself up in my own room and study the scroll
until I knew how to be good -- hee, heek, keek, eek,
eek! --to be good! Clever idea, that, wasn't it? Mighty
clever! And I issued a decree that no one should enter
my room, under pain of my royal displeasure, until I
was ready to come out. They're awfully afraid of my
royal displeasure, although not a bit afraid of me.
Then I put the parchment in my pocket and escaped
through the back door to my boat -- and here I am. Oo,
hoo-hoo, keek-eek! Imagine the fuss there would be in
Gilgad if my subjects knew where I am this very
minute!"
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